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Showing posts with the label environmental pollution

#IAEA #DG #Statement on #Situation in #Ukraine - #Update 300 (July 4 '25)

  Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has lost all off-site power for the ninth time during the military conflict and now relies on emergency diesel generators for the electricity it needs, underlining the extremely fragile nuclear safety situation at the site , IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. The plant’s connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut at 17:37 local time today. While the cause was not immediately known, it coincided with air raid alarms in the region, Director General Grossi said, citing information from the Ukrainian nuclear regulator. It was the first time the ZNPP suffered a complete loss of off-site power since 2 December 2023. The IAEA team based at the site , Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), reported that 18 emergency diesel generators immediately started operating to generate the electricity the plant needs to be able to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools . The plant has diesel f...

Seventh #Update on #Developments in #Iran (#War) (#IAEA, June 27 '25)

  Radiation levels in the Gulf region remain normal following the 12-day conflict that severely damaged several nuclear facilities in Iran , Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today. Citing regional data reported regularly to the IAEA through the International Radiation Monitoring System (IRMIS), Director General Grossi noted that this 48-nation network would have detected an important radioactive release from any damaged nuclear power reactor. “From a nuclear safety perspective, Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor represented our main concern as any strike affecting those facilities – including their off-site power lines – could have caused a radiological accident with potential consequences in Iran as well as beyond its borders in the case of the Bushehr plant. It did not happen, and the worst nuclear safety scenario was thereby avoided,” Director General Grossi said. Stressing again that nuc...

Sixth #Update on #Developments in #Iran (#War) (#IAEA, June 24 '25)

  Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has welcomed today’s announcements regarding the situation in Iran and stressed the need for a resumption of the IAEA’s indispensable safeguards verification work in the country following a 12-day military conflict that severely damaged several of its nuclear sites . In a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Abbas Araghchi , Director General Grossi also proposed that they meet soon. “Resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful diplomatic agreement to finally resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities. I’ve written to Foreign Minister Araghchi stressing the importance of us working together and proposing to meet soon,” he said. IAEA inspectors have remained in Iran throughout the conflict and are ready to start working as soon as possible, going back to the country’s nuclear sites and verifying the inventories of nuclear material – including more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% - which they last verified a few da...

Fifth #Update on #Developments in #Iran {#War} (#IAEA, June 22 '25)

  The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can confirm that the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan have been hit, following U.S. aerial attacks overnight, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today . Based on an analysis of the information available to it , the IAEA assessed that there has been extensive additional damage at the sprawling Esfahan site , which had already been struck several times by Israel since it began targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities on 13 June, Director General Grossi said. The IAEA had previously reported that several buildings at the Esfahan complex were damaged, some of which may have contained nuclear material. “The latest attacks early this morning damaged other buildings in Esfahan . In addition, we have established that entrances to underground tunnels at the site were impacted,” Director General Grossi said. The extent of damage to the Fordow uranium enrichment facility – built deep inside a mountain in central Iran – was...

Fourth #Update on #Developments in #Iran [War] (#IAEA, June 22 '25)

  Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he will call an emergency meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on Monday in light of the “urgent situation” in Iran following the latest attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities . “In view of the increasingly serious situation in terms of nuclear safety and security, the Board of Governors will meet in an extraordinary session tomorrow, which I will address,” Director General Grossi said. The Director General said the IAEA has been informed by the Iranian regulatory authorities that there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels after the recent attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordow uranium enrichment site. “As of this time, we don’t expect that there will be any health consequences for people or the environment outside the targeted sites,” he said. “We will continue to monitor and assess the situation in Iran and provide further updates as additional information becomes available.” According to...

Third #Update on #Developments in #Iran {War} (June 22 '25)

A large nuclear complex in Esfahan has been targeted for a second time during Israel’s attacks on Iran over the past nine days, with several more buildings struck, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today . The site in central Iran was first hit on 13 June when four buildings were damaged: the central chemical laboratory , a uranium conversion facility , a reactor fuel manufacturing plant , and an enriched uranium metal processing facility under construction. No increase of off-site radiation levels was reported. Based on information available to the IAEA today, six other buildings at the same site have now also been attacked: a natural and depleted uranium metal production facility which had not yet begun operations, a fuel rod production facility, a building with low-enriched uranium pellet production as well as a laboratory and nuclear material storage , another laboratory building, a workshop handling contaminated equipment ...

#IAEA #DG Grossi’s #Statement to #UNSC on #Situation in #Iran (June 20 '25)

  Attacks on nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic of Iran have caused a sharp degradation in nuclear safety and security in Iran. Though they have not so far led to a radiological release affecting the public, there is a danger this could occur . The International Atomic Energy Agency has been monitoring closely the situation at Iran’s nuclear sites since Israel began its attacks a week ago. As part of its mission, the IAEA is the global nerve centre for information on nuclear and radiological safety, and we can respond to any nuclear or radiological emergency. Based on information available to the IAEA , the following is the current situation at Iran’s nuclear sites. Which I offer as a follow up to my most recent report to this Security Council. The Natanz enrichment site contains two facilities . The first is the main Fuel Enrichment Plant . Initial attacks on the 13th of June targeted and destroyed electricity infrastructure at the facility, including an electrical sub-station ...

#IAEA DG Grossi’s #Statement to #UNSC on #Situation in #Iran (June 14 '25)

Early this morning, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed of the military operation launched by Israel which includes attacks on nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran . As I reported this morning to the IAEA Board of Governors , we have been in permanent contact with the Iran Nuclear Regulatory Authority , to ascertain the status of relevant nuclear facilities and to assess any wider impacts on nuclear safety and security. Iran has confirmed that at present, only the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant site has been attacked in today’s strikes . This facility contains the Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. At Natanz, the above-ground part of the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant , where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed. Electricity infrastructure at the facility (electrical sub-station, main electric power supply building, emergency power supply and back-up generators) has been destroyed . There is no i...

Independent and combined #effects of long-term #air #pollution #exposure and #genetic #predisposition on #COVID19 #severity: A population-based cohort study

Significance To date, no study has investigated the relationships between air pollutants and the progression of COVID-19 , nor the potential role of genetic susceptibility on the associations. This large population-based cohort study investigates the associations between air pollutants and genetic susceptibility, both individually and in combination, with the risk of COVID-19-related outcomes. It involves 458,396 participants from UK Biobank and demonstrates that air pollutants interact with host genetic susceptibility in both multiplicative and additive manners, thereby influencing the risk of COVID-19 severity. This study with cutting-edge methods provides robust evidence for the interplay between environmental and genetic factors on COVID-19 outcomes. Abstract The relationships between air pollution, genetic susceptibility, and COVID-19-related outcomes, as well as the potential interplays between air pollution and genetic susceptibility, remain largely unexplored. The Cox proportio...