Support of Ukrainian Atomic Workers
A key project for us that begun in 2022 is support of Ukrainian Atomic Workers and the Ukrainian people in general. This action was precipitated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the devastation that it caused, and continues to cause, in that country and the negative impact on nuclear power operations there.
Ukraine has a large nuclear power program, ranking 7th in the world in 2020. It operates the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which was overtaken by Russia early in the war and has been the subject of much concern, as Russia, has not only captured the plant, but has conducted military operations around it.
In August of 2022, UxC dedicated its Atomic Runners 5K run to support for Ukraine. A virtual event, it attracted runners from eight countries. UxC was able to double its previous contributions to Ukraine and the atomic workers there. The specific causes to which we contributed were the ANS-ENS Ukrainian Nuclear Workers Humanitarian Fund and RAZOM (Together). In addition, companies who participated in the event also contributed directly to Ukrainian causes.
UxC Executive Vice President, Policy, Anya Bryndza is shown with the Atomic Runners T-shirt, which was distributed to the runners. Anya, who is from Ukraine, oversees our annual Atomic Runners event.
We also dedicated our 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 runs to Ukraine, with the 2024 and 2025 runs opened to additional participants. For the 2026 run, UxC contributed $7,500 to Ukrainian causes, with $5,000 going toward the ANS/ENS Ukrainian Nuclear Workers Humanitarian Fund. This brings UxC’s total contribution to the ANS/ENS fund to over $25,000 over the past 4 years and our total contribution to Ukrainian causes to over $37,000 over the same period.
This support is very much in keeping with the objectives of our atompeace.org website. Creating nuclear-generated electricity is the primary peaceful application of the atom, and the fact that this could continue to be done during a war is a tribute to the atomic workers in Ukraine. We plan to continue to support Ukraine beyond the end of the war, as the country must be rebuilt.