AP reported that in the context of Russia's recent airstrikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure, Kiev officials said that the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy has failed to strengthen monitoring of the country's nuclear sites.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry continues to be criticized for failing to act promptly despite more than a year of warnings about the severity of damage to these sites from potential Russian attacks.
Ukraine said the nuclear switching stations are often located in unprotected locations, outside the operational areas of the three operating nuclear plants; making them vulnerable areas.
Switching stations play a vital role in Ukraine's nuclear energy infrastructure, transmitting electricity from reactors to the rest of the country, including hospitals, schools and other civilian facilities, according to Marcy R. Fowler, head of research and analysis at Open Nuclear Network.
Any attack on the switching stations would have serious consequences for Ukraine, which has relied heavily on nuclear energy since entering the conflict with Russia, Ms. Fowler said.
Ukrainian energy expert Oleksandr Kharchenko said that Ukraine would face energy restrictions for weeks if the two power stations were attacked, putting Ukrainians at risk of living through the cold winter months as it would take three to five years to install a new unit.
Lawmakers cited the failure to protect the sites in a January resolution, and drew up a list of other charges in a call for Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko to be removed.
Many analysts also expressed sympathy with these criticisms, pointing out that the new protection was deployed late last year, a time when Ukrainian intelligence agencies repeatedly warned of the risk that Russia could target the nuclear switching stations.
