KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� Ukraine鈥檚 nuclear energy operator said Tuesday that Russian forces were performing secret work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, activity that could shed light on Russia鈥檚 claims that the Ukrainian military is preparing a 鈥減rovocation鈥� involving a radioactive device.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine was preparing to launch a so-called . Shoigu leveled the charge over the weekend in calls to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts. Britain, France and the United States rejected it out of hand as 鈥渢ransparently false.鈥�
Ukraine also dismissed Moscow鈥檚 claim as an attempt to distract attention from the Kremlin鈥檚 own alleged plans to detonate a dirty bomb, which uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror.
Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise that operates the country's four nuclear power plants, said Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
Russian officers controlling the area won鈥檛 give access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what the Russians are doing, Energoatom said Tuesday in a statement.
Energoatom said it 鈥渁ssumes" the Russians 鈥渁re preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at鈥� the plant. It said there were 174 containers at the plant鈥檚 dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
鈥淒estruction of these containers as a result of explosion will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers (miles) of the adjacent territory,鈥� the company said.
It called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess what was going on.
The U.N. Security Council held closed-door consultations Tuesday about the dirty-bomb allegations at Russia鈥檚 request.
Russia鈥檚 U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia sent a five-page letter to council members before the meeting claiming that according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukraine鈥檚 Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv and Vostochniy Mining and Processing Plant 鈥渉ave received direct orders from (President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy鈥檚 regime to develop such a dirty bomb鈥� and 鈥渢he works are at their concluding stage.鈥�
Nebenzia said the ministry also received word that this work 鈥渕ay be carried out with the support of the Western countries.鈥� And he warned that the authorities in Kyiv and their Western backers 鈥渨ill bear full responsibility for all the consequences鈥� of using a 鈥渄irty bomb,鈥� which Russia will regard as 鈥渁n act of nuclear terrorism.鈥�
Russia鈥檚 deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky was asked by reporters after the council meeting what evidence Russia has that Zelenskyy gave orders to develop a 鈥渄irty bomb.鈥� He replied, 鈥渋t is intelligence information.鈥�
鈥淲e shared it in our telephone conversation with counterparts who have the necessary level of clearance,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose who wanted to understand that the threat is serious, they had all the possibilities to understand that. Those who want to reject it as Russian propaganda, they will do it anyway.鈥�
Polyansky said the IAEA can send inspectors to investigate allegations of a 鈥渄irty bomb.鈥�
Britain鈥檚 deputy U.N. ambassador James Kariuki told reporters after the meeting that 鈥渨e鈥檝e seen and heard no new evidence鈥� and the U.K., France and the U.S. made clear 鈥渢his is a transparently false allegation鈥� and 鈥減ure Russian misinformation.鈥� He said, 鈥淯kraine has been clear it鈥檚 got nothing to hide鈥� and 鈥淚AEA inspectors are on the way.鈥�
In a related matter, Russia asked the Security Council to establish a commission to investigate its claims that the United States and Ukraine are violating the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons at laboratories in Ukraine.
Soon after Russia鈥檚 Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, its U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, claimed that secret American labs in Ukraine were engaged in biological warfare 鈥� a charge denied by the U.S. and Ukraine.
Russia has called a Security Council meeting Thursday on Ukraine's biological laboratories and its allegations.
The Kremlin has insisted that its warning of a purported Ukrainian plan to use a dirty bomb should be taken seriously and criticized Western nations for shrugging it off.
The dismissal of Moscow's warning is 鈥渦nacceptable in view of the seriousness of the danger that we have talked about,鈥� Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Speaking during a conference call with reporters, Peskov added: 鈥淲e again emphasize the grave danger posed by the plans hatched by the Ukrainians.鈥�
At the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked Tuesday if Russia is preparing to deploy a tactical nuclear weapon after making its claims that Ukraine will use a dirty bomb.
鈥淚 spent a lot of time today talking about that,鈥� Biden told reporters.
The president was also asked whether the claims about a Ukrainian dirty bomb amounted to a false-flag operation.
鈥淟et me just say, Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake if it were to use a tactical nuclear weapon,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not guaranteeing you that it鈥檚 a false-flag operation yet ... but it would be a serious, serious mistake.鈥�
Dirty bombs don鈥檛 have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
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