IAEA says Russia bombing caused ‘shocking’ damage to US-built Ukraine atomic lab
- International monitors, who inspected the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, said many of the lab’s facilities are probably damaged beyond repair
- The International Atomic Energy Agency added it did not identify any sources of radiation
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday in a statement that damage to the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology was “dramatic and shocking” although no radiation was released.
The facility, which houses a neutron generator used for research, was built in collaboration with US Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.
“The sheer scale and intensity of the sustained targeting” violate “all the seven indispensable nuclear safety and security pillars,” IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said, adding that many of the lab’s facilities are probably damaged beyond repair.
“The experts checked the entire site area with a radiation monitor and did not identify any sources of radiation, with measurements at or around background levels,” according to the statement.
The destroyed lab first came under Russian attack in March. It was used for research as well as to provide medical isotopes for healthcare workers, according to Ukrainian officials.
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The Kharkiv institute’s relationship with the US expanded under the Obama administration, which provided the accelerator after helping to remove 16kg of highly enriched uranium from the site.