Ramberg: "The Chernobyl Factor in the Ukraine Crisis"
His article begins:
"Twenty-eight years after its Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, Ukraine confronts a nuclear specter of a different kind: the possibility that the country's reactors could become military targets in the event of a Russian invasion. Speaking at the Nuclear Security Summit in the Hague in March, Andrii Deshchytsia, Ukraine's acting foreign minister, cited the "potential threat to many nuclear facilities" should events deteriorate into open warfare.
Earlier in the month, Ihor Prokopchuk, Ukraine's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, circulated a letter to the organization's board of governors warning that an invasion could bring a "threat of radiation contamination on the territory of Ukraine and the territory of neighboring states." In Kyiv, Ukraine's parliament responded by calling for international monitors to help protect the plants as the cash-strapped government attempts to boost its own efforts."
Ramberg then goes on to issue a warning similar to one he's been giving for decades -- that whether due to intentional attack, or by unintentional accidental attack, nuclear power plants can unleash catastrophic amounts of hazardous radioactivity if blown up during military conflict.
Twenty-eight years after its Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, Ukraine confronts a nuclear specter of a different kind: the possibility that the country’s reactors could become military targets in the event of a Russian invasion. Speaking at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague in March, Andrii Deshchytsia, Ukraine’s acting foreign minister, cited the “potential threat to many nuclear facilities” should events deteriorate into open warfare.
CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphEarlier in the month, Ihor Prokopchuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, circulated a letter to the organization’s board of governors warning that an invasion could bring a “threat of radiation contamination on the territory of Ukraine and the territory of neighboring states.” In Kyiv, Ukraine’s parliament responded by calling for international monitors to help protect the plants as the cash-strapped government attempts to boost its own efforts.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bennett-ramberg-calls-attention-to-the-dangers-of-fighting-near-nuclear-power-stations#tTMpmuRY5bRsGc3L.99
Ramberg was a policy analyst in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs under President George H.W. Bush, and is the author of Destruction of Nuclear Energy Facitlities in War and Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy.
Beyond Nuclear also warned about the increased risks to Ukraine's nuclear power plants, in a March 7th weekly email bulletin alert as well as a March 6th website post. The web post mentioned Ramberg's warning in the early 1980s, in his book Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy, as well as his warning after the 9/11 attacks about the security vulnerability of U.S. atomic reactors. Beyond Nuclear did another follow on web post, warning that the Ukraine-Russia conflict underscores the dire need to abolish nuclear weapons and nuclear power, before they abolish us.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bennett-ramberg-calls-attention-to-the-dangers-of-fighting-near-nuclear-power-stations#tTMpmuRY5bRsGc3L.99
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On the eve of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe's 28-year mark, Beyond Nuclear issued a press release warning about the risks to Ukraine's 15 operating atomic reactors -- as well as to the radioactive wastes stored at the one destroyed and three permanently shutdown Chernobyl reactors -- from potential armed conflict with Russia, or even non-state actors, such as pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists.
