Nuke risk as exhausted Chernobyl staff STOP making safety repairs ‘after Russian troops force them to work relentlessly’
UKRAINIAN workers at Chernobyl are too tired to make safety repairs at the Russian-occupied nuclear site - raising the likelihood of a disaster, Ukraine warned on Sunday.
Employees have been forced to work relentlessly and have not been relieved since Putin's troops seized the site last month.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said: "The Ukrainian regulator informed the IAEA that staff at Chernobyl were no longer carrying out repair and maintenance of safety-related equipment.
"It is in part due to their physical and psychological fatigue after working non-stop for nearly three weeks."
It added that 211 technical personnel and guards had not been able to rotate from the facility since the day before Russian troops entered.
Director General Grossi called the situation facing the personnel increasingly dire and voiced safety and security concerns.
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A proposed framework discussed with Ukraine and Russia would allow the IAEA to deliver technical and other assistance to the nuclear facilities.
He added: "We can't afford to lose more time. The IAEA stands ready to act immediately, based on our proposed framework that requires agreement from the parties of the conflict before it can be implemented.
"We can only provide assistance to Ukraine’s nuclear sites once it has been signed. I’m doing everything I can to make this happen very soon.”
Earlier this week Ukraine lost all communications with the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl.
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There were fears that there were just hours left to restore power to the site as backup diesel generators only had enough fuel to supply the site for two days.
It was also warned that Europe could be hit by a devastating radiation leak from the Chernobyl nuclear site after Russian soldiers cut off the electricity.
It came after warning systems at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant went down.
The UN's IAEA said it was concerned about a sudden interruption of data flows to its HQ.
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And last month radiation exceeded safe levels when Putin's troops took over the site.
Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate blamed the spike on a "disturbance" caused by Russian forces rolling through.
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