Russian strikes hit Kharkiv’s Neutron Source: Is there risk of nuclear disaster?
Photo: Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology denies threat (Getty Images)
The Russian attack on the laboratory of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, where the enriched uranium device Neutron Source is located, does not pose a threat of a large-scale nuclear accident, according to the National Scientific Center of the Institute.
"The Institute is operating as normal. No emergencies have been recorded. Moreover, the likelihood of a large-scale nuclear accident at this facility is excluded," the center commented on the attack that took place on March 9, 2022. They recalled that former director general of the institute, Mykola Shulha, had previously confirmed there was no danger.
It turned out that the laboratory, located 22 km from the frontline, had been damaged 74 times by Russian munitions.
After Russia’s invasion in 2022, scientists stopped experiments and placed the Neutron Source into long-term shutdown mode.
In other premises of the institute, however, scientists continue experiments on nuclear fusion with radioactive hydrogen, despite daily attacks on Kharkiv.
Ukraine has other nuclear facilities, such as research or power-generating reactors, which remain under threat from enemy strikes.
The New York Times, in its article of September 9, 2025, about strikes on nuclear facilities in Ukraine, highlighted the risks posed by Russian attacks on the experimental Neutron Source device in Kharkiv.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine, citing the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, reported that as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, nearly all pillars of nuclear safety at the plant had been violated.
