Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and the role of Rosatom

Plant personnel, defence volunteers and pro-Ukrainian activists at the Chornobyl nuclear plant were intimidated, unlawfully detained and tortured during weeks of occupation. The Zaporizhzhia plant is still under occupation today. International norms on nuclear safety are ignored, and the population surrounding Enerhodar face repression and violence.

What crimes have been committed at the Zaporizhzhia plant? What have the people of Enerhodar endured, and how can justice be achieved? What are the risks for nuclear disaster at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant? And why does Rosatom, despite direct complicity in these crimes, continue to evade sanctions?

This event brings together experts, researchers, and lawyers to discuss the risks and consequences of Russia’s occupation of large nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

Panel Discussion:

• Dmytro Koval, Co-Executive Director, Truth Hounds, Ukraine
• Erlend B. Bjørtvedt, Director, Corisk
• Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, Deputy Secretary General, NHC
• Moderator: Lene Wetteland, Head of the NHC’s Documentation and Accountability Hub.

Also:

• Dmitry Gorchakov, Bellona: Online presentation on the role of Rosatom in Zaporizhzhia and the global nuclear market
• Ana Pashalishvili, senior adviser, NHC: presentation of new NHC publications on Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants

Background

40 years after the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe, Moscow continues to threaten the world with nuclear disaster. Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and other Russian officials have repeatedly issued veiled warnings, widely understood as threats to use nuclear weapons in connection with the war in Ukraine. These threats have been followed by placing nuclear forces on higher alert, the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus, and an updated nuclear doctrine in 2024, lowering the threshold for use.

On the ground, Russia’s 2022 occupation of the Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants refocused global attention on the consequences of compromised nuclear safety and security. While the Chornobyl plant was liberated by Ukrainian forces on 31 March 2022, the Zaporizhzhia plant remains under occupation. It has become a military base and the site of international crimes committed by Russian military units. The risk of a nuclear disaster at the plant remains real, as Russia continues to disregard international norms on nuclear safety.

Plant personnel, defence volunteers and pro-Ukrainian activists have been intimidated, unlawfully detained and tortured, while the surrounding population of Enerhodar has faced repression and violence.

Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom, plays a central and controversial role in Ukraine, especially at the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Despite being the de facto operator of the facility, an important part of Russia’s occupation system, and thereby complicit in violations of international law, Rosatom has not been sanctioned by the EU and the US, apparently because it controls a large share of the global nuclear market.

The event brings together experts, researchers, and lawyers to discuss the risks and consequences of Russia’s occupation of nuclear facilities. Why does Rosatom continue to evade sanctions? What crimes have been committed at the Zaporizhzhia plant? What have the people of Enerhodar endured, and how can justice be achieved?

The event moderator is Lene Wetteland, Head of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee’s Documentation and Accountability Hub.

Program

17:00  Coffee and snacks

17:30   Welcome: Jørgen Watne Frydnes, generalsekretær, Norsk PEN

17:35   Online presentation by Dmitry Gorchakov, Bellona: The role of Rosatom in Zaporizhzhia and the global nuclear market

17:50   Ana Pashalisvhili (NHC): Presentation of new NHC publications on Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants

17:55   Panel discussion on Rosatom’s responsibility for international crimes and its role in the Russian war economy, with Dmytro Koval, Co-Executive Director, Truth Hounds, Erlend B. Bjørtvedt, Director, Corisk and Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, Deputy Secretary General, NHC

18:30   End of seminar