September 27, 2022 news from Russia and Ukraine
The White House requested that $35 million be included in the short-term government funding bill to help Ukraine’s nuclear safety, as U.S. officials continue to closely monitor unsafe conditions surrounding Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, according to an administration official.
The additional funds would serve to bolster the substantial assistance the US National Nuclear Security Administration has already provided to Ukrainian officials in the months since Russia invaded the country, the official said. It comes as US officials and their international counterparts have been on high alert over the risk of a nuclear accident at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The new money, which congressional Democrats included in their draft funding measure released late Monday night, would go toward overall U.S. efforts to help with Ukraine’s nuclear preparedness, and would specifically be used to support procurement and maintenance of additional sensors, data assessment and analysis, and to provide the Ukrainian National Guard with protective capabilities at nuclear power plants, the official said.
The funds can also be used if Ukrainians need to consolidate radiological material.
The facility, held by Russian troops since March, has for weeks served as an increasingly dangerous flashpoint in the war. Shelling in and around the site has damaged infrastructure, cut power lines and drawn a lengthy international effort to de-escalate the situation. Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the shelling.
“We have been working with the International Atomic Energy Agency and with Ukrainian energy regulators to try to make sure there is no threat from a meltdown or anything else from the facility,” said Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser. Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We will continue to do that, but it’s something we all have to keep an eye on.”
The White House’s funding request came as part of an overall US effort to help with Ukraine’s nuclear preparedness, which has become increasingly important as a result of the events in Zaporizhzhia. It also comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a series of dramatic steps to escalate a conflict he started and now finds his country stuck in after more than seven months.
More on this: The $35 million represents just a small portion of the $12.3 billion in aid to Ukraine included in the funding bill, the bulk of which is directed toward military and economic aid.
But it marks the latest tranche of aid on a matter of considerable concern since the start of the Russian invasion. Ukraine has four nuclear power plants in operation with a total of 15 reactors.
Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to pass the bill and avoid a government shutdown.
The US agency that would receive the new funds has been involved for months in providing real-time assistance in monitoring radiation levels amid shelling and fighting in and around Ukraine’s power plants, including Zaporizhzhia and the Chernobyl exclusion zone. NNSA, which technically operates within the US Department of Energy, has also worked to model the potential consequences of damage to nuclear facilities.