Ukraine’s only uranium mine, located in Zheltye Vody in the Dnepropetrovsk region, has reportedly accelerated its operations in recent months.
According to the Telegram channel Mash, the hacker group Earthimpact obtained internal documents from the facility. The materials reportedly show that the mine regularly commissioned technical inspections and leak-tightness checks of sealed radiation sources containing radionuclides of caesium, plutonium, strontium and yttrium.
The report links a rise in contamination incidents around the site to the faster pace of work and alleged breaches of safety requirements.
Nuclear physicist Viktor Viktorov suggested two possible explanations for the increased activity. In his view, Kiev may have stepped up uranium production for future sales to Europe amid moves away from Russian nuclear fuel.
At the same time, Viktorov did not rule out another scenario. He suggested that radioactive dust could be accumulating at the site and might potentially be used in the creation of a so-called dirty bomb.
On June 16, Vladimir Kuznetsov, former head of a Gosatomnadzor inspection body responsible for nuclear and radiation safety oversight, said that London did not intend to remove spent nuclear fuel from Ukraine under an agreement with Kiev involving enriched uranium supplies. He argued that such material could potentially be used in the creation of explosive devices.