One of Russia’s top intelligence officials said Monday he hopes the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union will look into Ukraine’s nuclear activities, which he said could signal Kyiv is working on a “dirty bomb” or “radiological dispersal device “, reports Reuters.

The head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the SVR of Russia, Serhiy Naryshkin, did not provide documentary confirmation of his statements.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, rejected Naryshkin’s proposal, saying all movements of nuclear material had been fully accounted for.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kyiv has previously said it takes its nuclear responsibilities very seriously, accusing Russia of recklessness when it comes to how it controls the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

Naryshkin said his service has information that a batch of “irradiated fuel” was secretly sent from the Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine to be buried in the Chernobyl spent nuclear fuel storage facility.

He said the action, which Reuters could not independently verify, was “suspicious” and could only be explained by Kyiv’s intention to create a “dirty bomb” by combining radioactive material with conventional explosives.

The IAEA said that earlier this month it reported on the transportation of spent fuel from Rivne to Chernobyl and is fully considering this material.

The agency said it had been notified in advance of the transfer and that the material was tracked “to its final destination at the Chernobyl Central Spent Fuel Storage Facility, where it remains under IAEA safeguards.”

Russia has previously accused Ukraine, without providing evidence, of planning to use such a “dirty bomb”, amid fears on both sides that the fighting around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which Russian forces seized days after invading Ukraine early last year, could lead to disaster. .

Thus, in October 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Russia announced that it had prepared its forces for the detonation of a “dirty bomb” by Ukraine on its territory.

“If Russia says that Ukraine is preparing something, it means only one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the time.

What is a dirty bomb?

The term “dirty bomb” or “radiological dispersal device” (RDD) generally refers to any explosive device that releases one or more toxic chemical or biological products (NRBC – nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical).

This type of bomb is not considered an atomic weapon, the explosion of which is the result of fission (Atomic bomb) or nuclear fusion (Hydrogen bomb) and causes massive destruction over a wide range. The production of an atomic bomb requires the use of complex uranium enrichment technologies.

Much less difficult to make, the “dirty bomb” uses conventional explosives and its main purpose is to directly contaminate an area and people through ingestion or inhalation of radioactive materials.

“A dirty bomb is not a ‘weapon of mass destruction’, but a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ that is primarily intended to infect and scare,” the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission sums up.

The main danger of a “dirty bomb” is the explosion, not the radiation. Only people very close to the blast site will be exposed to enough radiation to cause immediate serious illness.

However, radioactive dust and vapors can become airborne and pose a health hazard if the dust is inhaled or ingested in contaminated food or water.

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