The US Department of Energy, in a letter to the Russian state corporation Rosatom, has warned the Russian side of the consequences of interference in secret nuclear technologies located at the now-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Source: European Pravda; CNN.

In the letter dated 17 March, which was reviewed by the American TV channel, Andrea Ferkile, the head of the US Office of the nonproliferation policy of the US Energy Department, told the general director of Rosatom that ZNPP "contains nuclear technical data of American origin, which are under the export control of the United States government."

Ferkile stated that Russian individuals are restricted from accessing such data and technologies without a separate approval from the US Secretary of Energy; otherwise, it will be considered a violation of US law.

The US Department of Energy confirmed to CNN that the letter to Rosatom is authentic, but declined to comment on its contents. At the same time, it is not known whether the Russian side responded to it.

The Zaporizhzhia NPP has been occupied by Russian troops since mid-2022; constant Russian shelling, which Moscow blamed Ukraine for, has repeatedly disconnected the plant from the Ukrainian power grid. Physically, the ZNPP is serviced by Ukrainian personnel under occupation and is managed by Rosatom.

The US involvement in the operation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP before the full-scale invasion of Russia was known earlier: in June 2021, the Nuclear Power Department of the US Department of Energy reported that it had helped introduce new maintenance procedures at a ZNPP reactor.

In April, the US State Department added companies associated with the state corporation Rosatom to the sanctions list for the first time.

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