World must 'rethink nuclear safety': Ukraine energy minister | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2025
World must 'rethink nuclear safety': Ukraine energy minister

Europe

BSS/AFP
13 December, 2022, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 13 December, 2022, 12:01 pm

Related News

  • What role for China in Ukraine?
  • US warns Russia may use new lethal missile against Ukraine soon
  • Nowhere to hide from a nuclear war
  • Putin backs China's Ukraine peace plan, says Beijing understands the conflict
  • US Republicans urge Ukraine aid vote, after 'Russian propaganda' warnings

World must 'rethink nuclear safety': Ukraine energy minister

BSS/AFP
13 December, 2022, 12:00 pm
Last modified: 13 December, 2022, 12:01 pm
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 4, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

The world must "rethink nuclear safety" after Russia's seizure of Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko told AFP ahead of a Tuesday conference in Paris.

The international gathering hosted by France aims to raise funds to repair Ukraine's damaged infrastructure as well as highlight the country's support for Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

With at least 40 percent of Ukraine's energy infrastructure demolished in the past two months, Galushchenko will join the conference to ask for materials and funds to get Ukrainians through the winter.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Speaking to AFP on Monday, he said Russia's war in Ukraine "completely changes our understanding of nuclear security", pointing to the capture of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as a turning point.

The plant, located in Ukraine's east, was seized by Russian troops in March, and shelling has continued around the site.

Despite Western powers and the UN atomic energy agency raising the alarm over safety at the plant -- which has six nuclear reactors -- talks aimed at demilitarising the area have stalled.

"Nobody expected that someone could capture a nuclear plant... This situation absolutely pushes us to rethink what should we do from the point of view of safety," Galushchenko told AFP.

He added that Russia's seizure of a nuclear plant "destroyed" any semblance of a safety net provided by agreements established by Western countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"That's a question, too, to all the countries of the world," he said.

"It's not only a Ukrainian issue of nuclear safety. It means that any missiles which could fly, let's say, up to 2,000 kilometres, could reach any nuclear reactor."

'Crazy game' 

Since Zaporizhzhia's capture, Galushchenko said Moscow's forces have continued shelling power lines connecting the plant to Ukraine's energy grid. The power plant has gone into blackout mode "five times", he added.

His main worry is that a nuclear power plant needs a constant power supply to cool the fuel.

If it gets disconnected, it could be a "classic Fukushima scenario", Galushchenko said, referring to the 2011 disaster in Japan.

"They shell Ukrainians lines, destroy the lines, then the station starts on diesel generators and it means you are one step ahead of an accident," he said.

But after the power lines are repaired and electricity supply to the plant is resumed, the worrying process begins again when shelling resumes.

"This is a crazy game around nuclear security," Galushchenko told AFP.

Since October, Russia has switched tactics and began airstrikes targeting Ukraine's energy network -- plunging millions into cold and darkness at the onset of winter.

The conference in France will focus on ways in which Ukraine's Western allies can provide immediate support to keep the country's civil infrastructure functioning amid incessant bombing.

World+Biz

Ukraine crisis / nuclear actions

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    Lowest SSC pass rate in 17 years as over 6 lakh students fail
  • BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while speaking at a discussion at National Press Club on 10 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    'Backbone of economy will break': Fakhrul says govt should've worked seriously with more qualified people on US tariffs
  • S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam. Photo: Collected
    Court freezes foreign investments of S Alam Group chairman, family in Singapore

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
    Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Audit reports of most banks contain cooked up data: BB governor
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December
    CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December

Related News

  • What role for China in Ukraine?
  • US warns Russia may use new lethal missile against Ukraine soon
  • Nowhere to hide from a nuclear war
  • Putin backs China's Ukraine peace plan, says Beijing understands the conflict
  • US Republicans urge Ukraine aid vote, after 'Russian propaganda' warnings

Features

Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

1h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered- have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

2h | Panorama
Women are forced to fish in saline waters every day, risking their health to provide for their families. Photo: TBS

How Mongla’s women are bearing the brunt of rising salinity

23h | Panorama
Dr Mostafa Abid Khan. Sketch: TBS

Actual impact will depend on how US retailers respond: Mostafa Abid Khan

2d | Economy

More Videos from TBS

SSC and equivalent results released: Pass rate 68.45%, GPA drops by 5

SSC and equivalent results released: Pass rate 68.45%, GPA drops by 5

21m | TBS Today
Islami bank aims to increase deposits to Tk 2 lakh crore by 2025

Islami bank aims to increase deposits to Tk 2 lakh crore by 2025

2h | TBS Programs
The two countries still face major challenges and mutual suspicions

The two countries still face major challenges and mutual suspicions

1h | Others
RMG sector braces for impact as US tariffs hit: Fakhrul

RMG sector braces for impact as US tariffs hit: Fakhrul

2h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net