Russian strike knocks out power at Kharkiv nuclear subcritical facility, IAEA reports

Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate informed the IAEA of the outage.

Russia struck and destroyed a substation near the nuclear facility on March 12, forcing the Neutron Source to run on emergency generators until power was restored on March 13.

The Neutron Source installation at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology has been repeatedly targeted by Russian attacks. Damage to the substation supplying the facility was reported at least in March 2022 and April 2024.

In April 2024, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office told Interfax-Ukraine that senior Russian military officials had issued direct orders to shell the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, which houses the world’s only nuclear subcritical “Neutron Source” facility and a nuclear materials storage site.

Between Feb. 24 and July 22, 2022, the institute’s grounds, including the nuclear facility, were hit 74 times by various types of Russian weapons.

The Neutron Source project in Ukraine was funded by the United States as compensation for the removal of highly enriched nuclear materials from Ukraine to Russia. The project was completed on Oct. 6, 2021, when 37 fuel assemblies were fully loaded and the facility reached initial startup.