The United States has sensitive nuclear technology in a nuclear power plant inside Ukraine, and warns Russia not to touch it, according to a letter that the US Energy Ministry sent to the Nuclear Energy Society belonging to Russia, Rosatom last month.
In the letter, which was revised by CNN and dated March 17, 2023, the director of the Office of the Non-Proliferation Policy of the Department of Energy, Andrea Ferkile, told Rosatom, the director general of Rosatom that the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia in Enerhodar, in Ukraine, contains the United States.
Property, software and technology are subject to American export controls when it is possible to be used in a way that undermines the American interests of national security.
The letter from the Energy Department comes as the Russian forces continue to control the factory, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and is in part of the Zaporizhzhia region that Russia occupied after its invasion of Ukraine last February. The factory has been frequently disconnected from the Ukrainian electrical network due to the intense Russian bombings in the region, raising fears of the fears across Europe of a nuclear accident.
While the factory is still physically operated by Ukrainian staff, Rosatom manages it. The Department of Energy warned Rosatom in the letter that it is “illegal” for all Russian citizens or entities to manage American technology.
CNN contacted Rosatom to comment.
It is not clear if Rosatom responded to the letter. The National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy told CNN in a statement that the letter was authentic.
The letters were reported for the first time by the RBC Ukraine RBC press press.
“The National Nuclear Security Administration of the Ministry of Energy can confirm that the letter is legitimate,” said Shayela Hassan, deputy director of public affairs of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
She added: “The energy secretary has legal responsibility to authorize the transfer of non -classified civilian nuclear technology and to help foreign atomic energy activities. The DOE does not comment on regulatory activities. ”
Another letter from Ferkile to the Inspector General of the Department of Energy, examined by CNN and dated October 24, 2022, describes the technology that the United States has exported to Ukraine for use in the Zaporizhzhia factory and reiterates that the ministry has “no registration of any current authorization to transfer this technology and technical data to a national or Russian entity”.
The Energy Department’s Nuclear Energy Office was public about supporting the United States at the factory and said on its website in June 2021 that “the United States has helped implement new reactor procedures and operations that should ultimately strengthen energy security” in Ukraine.
Correction: This position wrongly describes the media which reported the letters for the first time. It was RBC Ukraine.
