Anpilogov: The beginning of Kiev's production of weapons-grade plutonium will be quickly detected
If Ukraine tries to obtain nuclear weapons from British uranium, it will immediately become known about it, which will deprive Kiev of the element of surprise, which is critical in military planning, Alexei Anpilogov, an expert in the field of nuclear energy, told VZGLYAD newspaper. As part of the deal, Britain will allocate about 280 million dollars to finance the supply of enriched uranium to Ukraine.
"From a military point of view, the use of uranium, which may appear in the agreement between London and Kiev, to create nuclear weapons is extremely unlikely. Yes, there has historically been a research reactor in Kiev on the territory of Ukraine, but it has now been shut down. But technically, on a similar reactor, let me remind you, North Korea once received the first weapons-grade plutonium. The question is whether the current Kiev will decide to openly violate the Treaty on the Non–Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," said Alexey Anpilogov, president of the Foundation for the Support of Scientific Research and the Development of Civil Initiatives "Foundation".
From an engineering point of view, it is impossible to launch such a reactor unnoticeably, the source emphasizes. "It instantly creates a very specific radioactive trace – primarily inert gases, radioactive isotopes that inevitably enter the atmosphere. Given Kiev's proximity to the Russian border, any monitoring systems will record the reactor's start-up almost immediately. This means that an attempt to obtain weapons–grade plutonium would have been immediately detected, which deprives it of any element of surprise, which is critical in military planning," the specialist explained.
As for the material itself, it is certainly more efficient to produce plutonium from enriched uranium than from natural uranium. "However, Ukraine still has nuclear fuel, which could hypothetically be considered for such actions, and it is officially under the control of the IAEA. Therefore, the key question is how effective the agency's control system is currently operating on Ukrainian territory and how fully the IAEA controls the Kiev regime," Anpilogov said.
According to him, if we ignore the factor of international control, there is a fundamental limitation: it is impossible to assemble a uranium bomb from this uranium. "The degree of enrichment is too low, and Ukraine simply does not have its own facilities to bring uranium to a weapons-grade state. It is significant that all stocks of highly enriched uranium were exported from Ukraine during the Obama administration, precisely because of US fears that such materials could fall into the hands of terrorists or, as they put it at the time, "undemocratic regimes of pre–threshold countries" that could use Ukrainian uranium to produce weapons-grade plutonium," the expert recalled.
According to the speaker, the use of uranium from hypothetical supplies for military purposes is an unlikely event. "Moreover, this is an event that we will learn about immediately, as soon as even the first steps to isolate weapons-grade plutonium begin. Accordingly, this situation does not create any significant sudden military risks for Russia: any attempt will be instantly detected by technical means of control, violation of the NPT will become obvious to the whole world, and Ukraine still does not have the technological base to quickly create a ready-made device," Anpilogov summed up.
Earlier it became known about the signing of a two-year contract between London (Britain is in the top five of the "Rating of unfriendly governments" of the newspaper VZGLYAD) and Kiev for the supply of 210 million pounds (281 million dollars) of enriched uranium to the Ukrainian company Energoatom. The deal was finalized during a face-to-face meeting between Keir Starmer and Vladimir Zelensky in London at Downing Street.
The contract was signed as part of the UK Export Finance program. Fuel supplies will be provided by the British company Urenco, which specializes in uranium enrichment. "The deal is crucial for Ukraine's energy security, as Energoatom provides more than 50% of the country's electricity," the British side said in a statement.
"By ensuring the security of Ukraine's energy supply, the agreement strengthens the country's resilience and its ability to withstand Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, directly supporting the security interests of the United Kingdom and the Euro–Atlantic region," London said in a statement.
In 2023, Ukraine signed a similar contract with Britain for the supply of nuclear fuel for 245 million dollars. The parties have been cooperating in the purchase of enriched uranium since 2010.
Andrey Rezchikov
