If you would like to learn more about the IAEA’s work sign up for our weekly updates containing our most important news The IAEA delivered two new ambulances to Ukraine at the Chornobyl site Varash Hospital Director Tetiana Latyshenko said the IAEA’s assistance enables “us to provide high-quality medical care to the employees of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant their families and all members of our community.” Dr Liliana Salaru represented the IAEA at today’s official ceremony The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) handed over two new ambulances to Ukraine today to help ensure vital medical support for the people operating its nuclear power plants (NPPs) in difficult circumstances an essential part of the IAEA’s wider efforts aimed at preventing a nuclear accident during the military conflict The modern and fully equipped vehicles were officially delivered during a ceremony at the Chornobyl site whose workforce of around 2200 staff have been experiencing extremely challenging work and living conditions over the past few years with limited capacity at the facility to care for their physical as well as mental health The Chornobyl site’s medical unit will receive one of the two ambulances procured with support from Norway enabling swift and professional transportation of NPP personnel requiring hospital treatment Chornobyl employees in need of urgent medical attention have been taken to the hospital in any available car as the site’s old ambulance is unreliable and requires frequent repairs The second ambulance will be used by the Varash Hospital located in western Ukraine close to the Rivne nuclear site one of the country’s three NPPs currently generating much-needed electricity for households The two ambulances – equipped with the latest medical emergency technology – will strengthen the emergency response capabilities of both medical facilities The deliveries are part of the IAEA’s Medical Assistance Programme for Operating Personnel at NPPs in Ukraine launched by Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in April last year to enhance the healthcare services available at Chornobyl by providing critical care medicine and equipment the IAEA has coordinated the procurement of medical equipment and supplies aimed at strengthening critical care capabilities and preventive and diagnostic medical care for operating personnel at nuclear sites in Ukraine This medical aid forms part of the IAEA’s overall assistance to Ukraine the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) and Energoatom The IAEA has also provided other assistance for NPP personnel, including more than 500 new beds with orthopaedic mattresses for staff working in weeks-long shifts at Chornobyl in view of the difficulties in travelling to and from their hometown of Slavutych “From the beginning of this tragic and devastating war the IAEA has been focused on doing everything it can to maintain nuclear safety and security and avert the threat of a nuclear accident with potentially serious consequences for people and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” Director General Grossi said “We are achieving this indispensable mission in several ways by deploying teams of experts at all nuclear power plants in Ukraine and delivering much needed spare parts and other equipment we are also focusing on assisting the staff whose work we all depend on Their physical and psychological well-being is crucial for the safe and secure operation of the nuclear power plants,” he said The Director General added: “None of this assistance would have been possible without the generous support of our donors” NPP staff facing “constant stress and pressure” The vital role of NPP staff is recognized in the IAEA’s Seven Indispensable Pillars for maintaining nuclear safety and security during the conflict which were outlined by Director General Grossi in March 2022 Pillar 3 states that “operating staff must be able to fulfil their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure.” “The operating personnel are working under extremely difficult and stressful conditions because of military activities near the plants fearing for loved ones on the frontlines while balancing the needs of family members including children at home,” said Dr Liliana Salaru who represented the IAEA at today’s official ceremony “While their professional dedication has been extraordinary they are exposed to constant stress and pressure in a demanding and challenging environment affecting their resilience as well as emotional and physical well-being decision-making and even some disease trajectories which in turn impede the optimal performance required for operating personnel at nuclear power plants,” she said at the event which also featured a video message from the IAEA Director General Ukraine’s NPP workers have also had to cope with an increased workload as the number of available operating staff has decreased during the conflict Acting General Director Sergii Martynov of the Chornobyl NPP said the assistance received so far had “greatly improved the living conditions” for staff “It has had a positive impact on both their well-being and their ability to maintain high performance in these difficult times,” he said Varash Hospital Director Tetiana Latyshenko said the IAEA’s assistance with training vaccines and equipment supplies “enable us to provide high-quality medical care to the employees of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant their families and all members of our community.” Apart from delivering ambulances and other medical equipment the IAEA has been working with Ukrainian and international specialists to address a growing need for psychological assistance a well-attended mental health workshop was organized for psychologists from the NPPs in the western town of Truskavets “It is essential that we recognize the very stressful conditions under which the operators of these critical facilities work and everything possible is done to protect the health of such an important workforce,” Director General Grossi said The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests "We are ready to deepen our contribution to the training of the Ukrainian military," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on May 5 by Kateryna HodunovaThe cooling towers of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant are seen on March 25 a city built to house workers and serve the plant sits next to it and is vulnerable to Russian attack (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Ukraine's state nuclear energy agency Energoatom signed on Sept 25 a contract worth Hr 509 million ($12.3 million) for the design and construction of a protective structure at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant Ukrainian investigative media outlet Nashi Groshi reported on Sept The outlet noted that the agreement was concluded only after President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that Russia was preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants and that the infrastructure around the plants was not properly protected The protective structures around the plants include U-shaped structures that shield large transformers from drones and shrapnel damage in the event of an indirect missile hit Energoatom signed the contract via Prozorro, Ukraine's electronic public procurement system, designed to increase transparency and competition in the bidding process, Nashi Groshi reported The outlet also said that the contract itself was not published on Prozorro so details about how many and how large the structures that are to be built under this new contract will be are unknown Ukrainian state grid operator Ukrenergo recently signed contracts worth Hr 98 million ($2.3 million) and Hr 120 million ($2.9 million) for structures that protect one transformer Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the former head of Ukrenergo, said in an interview with Suspilne after his recent dismissal that more than 60 of the company's facilities have these types of protective structures these structures helped Ukrenergo recover from a mass Russian attack on Aug Russia launched nine coordinated attacks against Ukraine's electricity infrastructure between March and the end of August According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report Ukraine's electricity shortage could reach 6 gigawatts this winter due to the attacks which is about one-third of the expected peak demand the power shortage was 2.5 GW when Kyiv was already experiencing long blackouts There are three operating nuclear power plants on Ukrainian-held territory: the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi plants in the country's west and the Pivdennoukrainsk plant in the south Russia's regular attacks cut off power to the units nuclear generation currently accounts for up to 60% of the country's electricity consumption The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Europe's largest nuclear power station has been under Russian occupation since March 2022 Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content A horrific accident occurred at Iran's Chabahar Konarak Airport last week, where a ground engineer died after being sucked into the engine of a Varash Airlines Boeing 737-500 was performing routine maintenance when the incident took place causing widespread shock and prompting an immediate investigation by Iranian aviation authorities the engine was running for a test when Amiri resulting in his instant death and causing the engine to catch fire His remains were recovered after the fire brigade arrived at the scene Ground engineer killed after being ingested in the engine of a Varash Airlines 737 at Chabahar Konarak Airport in Iran. pic.twitter.com/85yf2BHAC5 The incident happened on July 3 during a routine maintenance check on the right-hand engine of the 737 Reports indicate that the engine had its cover flaps open and was in operation within a designated safety zone at the time of the incident the powerful suction of the turbine led to the engineer's death 2024-07-02: Varesh Airlines Boeing 737-500 (EP-VAF, built 1998) was standing at Cha Bahar Airport(OIZC), Iran when maintenance was carried out on the right engine #2. While the engine was running, a ground engineer who entered the safety zone was sucked into the turbine and died… pic.twitter.com/YL10HVenYY Iran's aviation authority has ordered an investigation into the accident Safety protocols and maintenance procedures are expected to be reviewed and possibly revised based on the investigation's findings This is at least the second time this year a person was sucked into a jetliner engine and killed. In May, a person died after falling into a running engine at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam Passengers and crew members were on board the KLM Embraer E190 aircraft when the individual fell into the spinning turbine blades Witnesses described hearing a "hellish noise" as the person was sucked in the Royal Dutch Police investigation revealed that the death was a suicide The report disclosed that the man was an employee of a company operating at the airport a mother of three working as a ground crew member approached the running engines of a plane and was pulled inside at Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation revealed that the aircraft had its engines running as part of the standard cooldown procedure after landing Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact  LiveNews@newsweek.com Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world The turbine hall of the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant in Varash 2024 at 9:44 AM ESTBookmarkSaveRussian attacks against Ukraine’s damaged power grid have increased the probability of a catastrophic nuclear accident according to US and European diplomats at an emergency meeting of the United Nations atomic watchdog The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation board of governors gathered Thursday in Vienna after Ukraine requested an extraordinary meeting following Kremlin strikes against electrical infrastructure Two rounds of drone and missile attacks against power lines last month forced Kyiv to reduce output at the nine reactors still its under operational control They provide the majority of the country’s remaining generation capacity The Rivne nuclear power plant (NPP) is home to four of the 15 Russian-designed nuclear power reactors operating in Ukraine Understand the impact of the Ukraine conflict from a cross-sector perspective with the Global Data Executive Briefing: Ukraine Conflict is located near Varash in Rivne Oblast and is the biggest power station in western Ukraine It is also the oldest among the four active NPPs operated by Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy generating company The 2.8GW power station houses four Russian-designed pressurised water reactors (PWRs), of which the first three units were commissioned between 1980 and 1986 when Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union Rivne NPP supplied more than 15,796 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity to the Ukrainian national grid in 2020 the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) approved the lifetime extension of the first two 440MW power units of the NPP until December 2030 and December 2031 It also issued a licence in July 2018 to extend the operating life of the 1,000MW Rivne-3 unit until December 2037 The initial design life of the 1,000MW Rivne-4 unit expires in December 2035 The Rivne NPP is located on the bank of the Styr River 3km east of Varash (formerly called Kuznetsovsk) at the border of the Rivne and Volyn regions in western Ukraine The district centre of Vladimirets lies 20km to the north-east and the Kyiv-Kovel highway is located 20km south of the plant site initially called the West-Ukraine NPP project Rivne was the first Ukrainian NPP to use VVER-440 reactors Construction of Unit 4, with another VVER-1000 reactor, was suspended in 1990 due to the moratorium on the construction and commissioning of new nuclear reactors in Ukraine following the Chernobyl NPP disaster in 1986 Work on the fourth unit resumed after the moratorium was lifted in 1993 Rivne-4 was connected to the grid in October 2004 and commercial operations started in April 2006 Units 1 and 2 of the Rivne nuclear power plant comprise two water-cooled water-moderated VVER-440 (V-213) reactors in separate buildings along with a K-220-44 steam turbine and TVV-220-2AUZ generator in a common turbine building Each VVER-440 reactor of the NPP features six coolant loops with each loop consisting of reactor coolant piping GTsN-317 main coolant pump and PGV-213 steam generator Units 3 and 4 are each equipped with a VVER-1000 (V-320) reactor with four coolant loops and horizontal steam generators as well as a K-1000-60/3000 steam turbine paired with a TVV-1000-2UZ generator Each unit has its own reactor and turbine buildings The design of the VVER-1000 reactors used at Rivne is similar to that of the six units operating at Zaporizhzhya The reactor core of each of the four VVER power units at Rivne is placed within a steel pressure vessel with 20cm-thick walls Each pressure vessel is enclosed within a steel reinforced concrete containment building The Rivne NPP uses water from the nearby Styr River for cooling It uses six natural draft cooling towers of 100,000m³/h capacity each A total of 14 diesel generators (DGs) are used at the power station to provide emergency cooling in the absence of an external power supply while two additional DGs for common use are located at Unit 4 The electricity generated by the Rivne nuclear power plant is fed into the national grid through two 750kV four 330kV and five 110kV transmission lines completed the 353km-long Rivne-Kyiv 750kV transmission line to deliver surplus power from the country’s western region to the power-deficit central region in December 2015 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) provided loans for the UAH5.82bn ($215m) Rivne-Kyiv high-voltage (HV) transmission project which also involved the modernisation of the Kyivska substation part of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) was the fuel supplier for all four units of the Rivne NPP Energoatom decided to start using fuel assemblies supplied by Westinghouse This decision was in line with Ukraine’s strategy to diversify nuclear fuel supply and reduce its dependence on the Russian supplier The first batch of 42 Westinghouse fuel assemblies for Unit 3 of the Rivne nuclear power plant was delivered to the plant site in July 2021 Loading into the reactor core is expected in 2022 Rivne-3 is expected to switch entirely to Westinghouse fuel by 2026 the first batch of 12 Westinghouse fuel assemblies is planned to be loaded into the Rivne-2 VVER-440 reactor core in 2024 Energoatom and Holtec International signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in March 2018 to build six SMR-160 modular reactors at the Rivne nuclear power station to replace the two ageing VVER-440 power units at the site from 2030 and Ukraine’s State Scientific and Technology Center (SSTC) forged a trilateral consortium partnership to advance the deployment of SMR-160 nuclear reactors in Ukraine Westinghouse Electric was contracted to supply nuclear fuel for the two VVER-440 reactors of the Rivne NPP in September 2020 an Energoatom subsidiary that oversees maintenance and repairs of all Ukrainian NPPs contracted General Electric (GE) Steam Power to provide generator maintenance services at the Rivne nuclear power station for a period of three years in July 2020 Ukraine-based technology company Radiy supplied the field programmable gate arrays (FPGA)-based RadICS digital safety instrumentation and control (I&C) system for the Rivne NPP in 2017 Kyiv Institute of Energy Projects (KIEP) has been providing engineering support services for the operation as well as safety assessment and improvement of the nuclear power facility It also developed a radioactive waste (RAW) processing complex at the Rivne nuclear power plant in 2018 completed the construction of the 750kV Rivne-Kyiv transmission line in December 2015 The power equipment and engineering company Dalekovod secured a contract worth more than €43m ($47m) to modernise and upgrade the Kyivska transformer station as part of the Rivne-Kyiv HV transmission line project in August 2015 Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network On September 23 various social media networks featured claims of radioactive fallout at the Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine resulting in the evacuation of people in the town of Varash no radiation had been leaked and there was no evacuation underway The fake claims were denied by Ukrainian authorities the Ukrainian state agency operating all nuclear power plants in the country there was no accident at the Rivne plant and no radiation was being released “Regarding the disinformation being circulate on the Internet about an accident at the Rivne nuclear power plant we inform that three of the reactors at the plant and functioning normally reactor number four is undergoing a scheduled maintenance” Energoatom said in a statement The agency said that no safety violations had occurred at Rivne.It appears that the Varash City Council official web page The page currently states that unauthorized interference on the site resulted in the inaccurate information being posted Ukraine has thousands of electricity substations But at stake are ten crucial nodes linked to nuclear power plants whose destruction could plunge the country into darkness and provoke a radiological emergency Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Bloomberg News in an interview Information for shareholders and stakeholders The academic year has started for the participants of the educational project “RNPP Nuclear School” which included 85 students of grades 9-11 of Varash educational institutions and students of the RNPP Vocational School “I am convinced that during the RNPP Nuclear School you will get vivid impressions and a lot of useful information firsthand not everyone has the opportunity to come and see how a nuclear power plant works from the inside The project will help someone to decide on their future profession So remember this and know that the Rivne NPP team is looking forward to seeing you,” said Oleh Kylyukh RNPP Deputy Director General for Human Resources “It is gratifying that every year the number of participants in the career guidance project does not decrease The Ukrainian Nuclear Society is only in favor of the development of the younger generation so the organization will promote and help you to expand your knowledge of the nuclear industry and gain valuable experience,” Serhii Hutsalo Head of the Ukrainian Nuclear Society in Rivne Region Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of RNPP During the introductory lecture “Power Engineer as a Profession” Deputy Head of the Department – Head of the RNPP Press Center spoke about the role of nuclear energy in Ukraine as an environmentally friendly source of electricity generation the history of the construction of RNPP power units and prospects for the construction of new ones sports and social life of Rivne nuclear workers The high school students received comprehensive answers to their questions the participants of the Nuclear School will have a busy program: excursions to the industrial site information and training centers; master classes in various sports; lectures by Rivne NPP specialists and instructors; business games; career guidance testing internships at the workplaces of plant managers and employees “I have repeatedly heard from my friends and acquaintances about the RNPP Nuclear School When I learned about the start of this year's project especially since my parents work at the Rivne NPP and I wanted to feel involved in such a large-scale enterprise as well The Nuclear School is a unique opportunity that I could not ignore I’m grateful to the organizers for such a great opportunity,” said Tetiana Mishchanchuk DANGER: The cooling towers of the Rivne nuclear power plant on March 25 in Varash which has served as a staging ground for Russian troops Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post Poll results are published every Monday in The Guam Daily Post Saturday’s Mad Collab Block Party in Hagåtña brought together more than 70 local businesses and artists in celebration with hundreds of attendees It was all about the wonders of Artificial Intelligence in the palm of your hand All of the latest features in Samsung's Galaxy AI were showcased at a GTA-sponsored event Thursday University of Guam students and alumni presented original research at the 19th annual International Conference on Business Economics & Information Technology (ICBEIT) hosted by the University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration in Mactan Newtown Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: You are using 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