The Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric plant in southern Ukraine, which feeds coolant water to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear station, was breached by an apparent explosion June 5. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed Russia, which took control last year of the facility on the Dnipro River near Kherson, for a “terrorist” act which has caused widespread flooding. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. State Department said June 1 that it will stop notifying Russia about missile and launch locations as required by their moribund 193 nuclear arms treaty and has revoked visas for Russian inspectors and aircrews. It said the decision is a “countermeasure” to Russian “violations” of the accord. [node:read-more:link]
After Russia President Vladimir Putin reiterated a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, his counterpart there suggested May 28 that any other neighbouring country could expect the same arrangement. “No one is against Kazakhstan and other countries having the same close relations that we have with the Russian Federation,” Lukashenko said on Russian state TV. “It is very simple: join in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. That's all: there will be nuclear weapons for everyone.” [node:read-more:link]
Deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to neighbouring Belarus, a close ally in the war against Ukraine, has been formalized in a May 25 agreement. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the arrangement is justified by “an extremely sharp escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus.” [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the other G7 leaders kicked off their summit in Japan today by announcing new sanctions against 17 Russian individuals and 18 “entities” due to human rights abuses in Ukraine. They also announced new funding they said will help to guard against nuclear weapon proliferation. [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Japan today for the opening of a G7 summit in Hiroshima. Japanese PM Fumio Kishida chose his hometown for the meeting to highlight the risk of a nuclear confrontation as Russia ramps up its rhetoric about Ukraine and its allies. [node:read-more:link]
Nikolaos Bogonikolos, a 59-year-old Greek whose company did contract work for NATO, is suspected of helping Russia to obtain military technologies related to quantum computing and nuclear testing. He has been arrested in Paris and the U.S. is seeking his extradition to stand trial for wire fraud and smuggling. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. plans periodic nuclear submarine deployments to South Korea in response to the North’s escalating nuclear threat. The U.S. also agreed April 26 to involve the South in its nuclear planning operations in return for a commitment that it would not develop its own nuclear weapons. [node:read-more:link]
Russia has been warned by the U.S. not to touch what is described as sensitive technology at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The U.S. Energy Department says the plant operated by Ukrainians under Russian supervision ontains “nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government.” [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. and Russia have stopped sharing biannual nuclear weapons data as the latest arms limitation agreement falters, a State Department official confirmed March 28. The U.S. had offered to continue sharing information but that was rebuffed. “Because of Russia’s noncompliance […] the United States will not provide its biannual data exchange to Russia either,” theofficial said. [node:read-more:link]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station cannot be guaranteed while it is occupied by Russian troops. “Holding a nuclear power station hostage […] is surely the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or worldwide nuclear power,” he said March 27. The station’s six reactors are currently shutdown but power to prevent a meltdown evidently is unreliable. [node:read-more:link]
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano said today that while a deal deal to protect Europe's largest nuclear power plant from a catastrophic accident due to fighting in Ukraine could be “close”, he warned that intensified combat in the area has increased risks to the facility. “It is a zone of extreme volatility so the negotiations are, of course, affected,” he said. “I would not characterize the process for the last few months as one that has not led to any progress.” [node:read-more:link]
President Vladimir Putin says Russia plans to station but control tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus this summer, saying it would not violate nuclear non-proliferation agreements. “There is nothing unusual here,” he says. “The United States has […] long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries.” [node:read-more:link]
The federal government today confirmed more than $32 million to bolster “security and stabilization” in Ukraine, including some $9.7 million previously announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The total includes $7.5 million for de-mining, $12 million to “counter chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats” and some $13 million for “accountability efforts” including addressing conflict-related sexual violence. [node:read-more:link]
A report that it has intentionally enriched uranium to a purity of 84 per cent is being denied by Iran amidst ongoing issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency. It was reported that IAEA inspectors had discovered the enrichment to just below the 90 per cent required for weapons production. An official with the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said February 19 that particles with above 60 per cent purity had been found, as they had in the past, but that “does not mean that there has been enrichment over 60 percent.” [node:read-more:link]
