Ukraine war: IAEA loses contact with safeguards monitoring systems at Chernobyl

Ukraine-Russia conflict: Remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement.

Systems monitoring nuclear material at the radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl in Ukraine, which were taken over by Russian forces last month, have stopped transmitting data to the UN nuclear watchdog, it said on Tuesday.

File photo of a New Safe Confinement structure over the old sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (REUTERS)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi "indicated that remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost", the agency said in a statement.

"The Agency is looking into the status of safeguards monitoring systems in other locations in Ukraine and will provide further information soon," it said.

Safeguards refers to the field of IAEA work aimed at keeping track of nuclear material.

On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the defunct Chernobyl plant, site of a 1986 disaster that killed hundreds and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.