The UN’s nuclear watchdog IAEA says its inspectors have regularly visited two sites in Ukraine at the centre of Russian claims that Kyiv is preparing a so-called dirty bomb…
Russia has not offered any evidence for its allegations, which NATO dismisses…
So-called dirty bombs contain radioactive material, such as uranium, which is scattered through the air when its conventional explosive detonates. They don’t need to contain highly refined radioactive material, as is used in a nuclear bomb, which makes them cheaper and easier to manoeuvre.
The IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] said it had received an invitation from the Ukrainian government to carry out “verification activities” at two unspecified locations, adding that the agency’s inspectors have visited both sites regularly.
I know, I know! Who feels like trusting inspectors without knowing much of anything about their trustworthiness and track record. Still, it’s all we have, so far.
Eideard 
(October 25, 2022) “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’t 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 “assumes” the Russians “are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at” the plant. It said there were 174 containers at the plant’s dry spent fuel storage facility, each of them containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.
“Destruction 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,” the company said.” https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-sergei-shoigu-climate-and-environment-government-politics-6ea801e22edee2d25c1e24d613f18e4a
Not for nothing but the “dirty bomb” is a concept. Most likely a construct of the GWBush administration as it exists in popular consciousness. There have been no evidence of detonated “dirty bombs” that devastated communities with radioactive fallout and there most likely never will be. If the Oklahoma City bombing was in a truck made of used Uranium the after effects would not have been worse than the detonation itself.
“Fears are rising that a major event on Ukrainian soil in the near future will be a Russian “false flag” operation as Moscow looks to regain momentum amid a successful counteroffensive from Kyiv.
U.S. officials on Tuesday continued to vehemently reject Russia’s claims that Ukraine was planning to use a “dirty bomb” on its own land, allegations seen as a pretext for Moscow to escalate the war.
The Kremlin assertions — which first came from Russia’s defense minister on Sunday and were repeated Monday and Tuesday by other Moscow officials — come on the heels of warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia is planning to blow up a huge dam near Kherson and blame it on Ukrainians.” https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3704106-why-fears-of-a-russian-false-flag-attack-are-on-the-rise/
Russia has a long history with false flag operations (2/18/22) https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/how-false-flag-operations-work-and-russias-history-of-using-them/
Re: ‘dirty bomb’ see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_bomb
Vladimir Putin says ‘dirty bomb’ claims to NATO were made on his orders
Russian president says he told his defense minister to raise threat of nuclear device despite Kyiv insisting it has no plans to use one. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/27/vladimir-putin-says-dirty-bomb-claims-to-nato-were-made-on-his-orders
In a speech near Moscow, Putin claimed once again that Russia knew “about an incident with a so-called ‘dirty bomb’ being prepared”, and that Russia knew “where, generally, it was being prepared”.
Once again he gave no evidence of the alleged plot, which included the possibility of the device being loaded on to a Tochka-U or other tactical missile, detonated and then “blamed on Russia”.
Russian Media Floats Batshit Fake Iskander Missile Dirty Bomb Claim
A purported Ukrainian plot to shoot down a radiation-laced missile over the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone joins other evidenceless Russian claims. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/russian-media-floats-batshit-fake-iskander-missile-dirty-bomb-theory
(American Association for the Advancement of Science. March 25, 2022): “Dirty bomb ingredients go missing from Chernobyl monitoring lab : Insecure radioactive materials are the latest worry as Russia continues occupation of infamous nuclear reservation” https://www.science.org/content/article/dirty-bomb-ingredients-go-missing-chornobyl-monitoring-lab
“Russia squeezes out one “dirty bomb” after another to waste the UN’s time” https://english.nv.ua/opinion/russia-squeezes-out-one-dirty-bomb-after-another-to-waste-the-un-s-time-opinion-50280245.html
“Fact check: Russia’s false case for a dirty bomb in Ukraine” (Deutsche Welle 10/28/22) https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-russias-false-case-for-a-dirty-bomb-in-ukraine/a-63590306
“Vasily Nebenzya, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, has said that the Russian occupiers allegedly discovered drones in Ukraine that can “spread mosquitoes infected with dangerous viruses.”
Nebenzya also stated that the Russian Federation had received some documents regarding “the spread of dangerous infections through migration birds, in particular highly pathogenic influenza and Newcastle disease, and bats, in particular capable of infecting humans with the causative agents of plague, leptospirosis, brucellosis, as well as coronaviruses and filoviruses.” (Ukrainska Pravda, October 28, 2022) https://news.yahoo.com/combat-mosquitoes-dirty-bomb-russian-151700522.html
“Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UN Security Council meeting considering the complaint by the Russian Federation under Article 6 of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention” (Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations press release October 27, 2022) https://russiaun.ru/en/news/271022_nb
UN nuclear watchdog starts ‘dirty bomb’ claims probe in Ukraine
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says UN will release ‘initial conclusions’ from the inspection later this week.
The IAEA in Monday’s statement also urged the release of a senior official of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant who was kidnapped by Russian troops two weeks ago. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/un-nuclear-watchdog-starts-dirty-bomb-claims-probe-in-ukraine
The U.N.’s nuclear safety agency Thursday said it did not find any evidence that Ukraine was building a so-called “dirty bomb.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/no-evidence-of-dirty-bomb-in-ukraine-un-nuclear-watchdog-says/
“Our technical and scientific evaluation of the results we have so far did not show any sign of undeclared nuclear activities and materials” at the locations where it carried out inspections, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Following a written request from Kyiv, the International Atomic Energy Agency sent experts to three locations in Ukraine: the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv, the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Kody, and the Production Association Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant in Dnipro.
Grossi added that the U.N. agency stands ready to “conduct further such verification activities in Ukraine to verify the absence of undeclared activities and materials and thereby deter any misuse of such materials.”
Russia rejects IAEA investigation into Ukraine ‘dirty bomb’ claims
“There are probably no grounds to be satisfied with what the IAEA has collected and prepared. We will decide on this issue as we accumulate additional information,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Friday.
A Russian government-run Twitter account posted on Thursday calling the IAEA’s conclusion “an unprofessionally drafted resolution that goes beyond the Agency’s mandate and contains factual errors on nuclear safety, nuclear security and safeguards in Ukraine.”
Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of planning to use such a bomb – a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive material – and said institutes linked to the nuclear industry were involved in preparations, without presenting evidence. Ukraine’s government denies the accusation. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-722934