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Bodies of Ukrainian Victims Returned Home as Iran Backtracks on Sending Flight Recorders

Stewardesses with Ukrainian air-line react near to coffins of the flight crew members of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, during a memorial service at Borispil international airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. AP
Stewardesses with Ukrainian air-line react near to coffins of the flight crew members of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, during a memorial service at Borispil international airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. AP
    Asharq Al-Awsat
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Bodies of Ukrainian Victims Returned Home as Iran Backtracks on Sending Flight Recorders

Stewardesses with Ukrainian air-line react near to coffins of the flight crew members of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, during a memorial service at Borispil international airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. AP
Stewardesses with Ukrainian air-line react near to coffins of the flight crew members of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, during a memorial service at Borispil international airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. AP

The bodies of the 11 Ukrainians who died when a passenger plane was accidentally shot down by Iran have arrived in Ukraine for a farewell ceremony on Sunday.

They were among the 176 people killed in the Jan. 8 catastrophe, when a Ukrainian Airlines plane was brought down shortly after takeoff from Tehran.

The bodies were brought to Kiev's Boryspil Airport aboard a Ukrainian air force plane.

An honor guard solemnly carried the coffins into the airport terminal, where a farewell observance is to last until the evening.

Meanwhile, the Iranian official leading the investigation into the accident appeared to backtrack Sunday on plans to send the flight recorders abroad for analysis, a day after saying they would be sent to Kiev, the Associated Press reported.

Hassan Rezaeifar was quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying “the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out.”

Iran is working to recover the data and cabin recordings, and it may send the flight recorders to Ukraine or France, he said.

“But as of yet, we have made no decision.” Rezaeifar noted.

The military has said it downed Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 in error in the aftermath of tit-for-tat strikes by the US and Iran. Authorities delayed revealing these details which lead to days of protests on Iran's streets.

According to Reuters, the plane disaster has heightened international pressure on Tehran as it grapples with a long-running dispute with Washington over its nuclear programme and its influence in the
region.

Ukraine has previously said it expected the recorders to be handed over, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said France was one of the few countries with the ability to read information on the recorders.

Meanwhile, France's air accident agency BEA said on Saturday it was awaiting an official request for assistance.

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UK Announces $19 billion Investment in 1st Major Nuclear Plant since the 1990s

Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, southeast England, April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, southeast England, April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
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UK Announces $19 billion Investment in 1st Major Nuclear Plant since the 1990s

Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, southeast England, April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo
Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, southeast England, April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo

Britain will invest 14.2 billion pounds ($19 billion) to build a new nuclear station that will reduce the UK's reliance on volatile international fossil fuel markets, the government said Tuesday.

Officials said the investment will go into building the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, on England's eastern coast, saying it will generate enough low-carbon electricity to power 6 million homes when it becomes operational in the 2030s.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said previous governments had dithered and delayed over nuclear power. No new nuclear plant has been opened in the UK since Sizewell B in 1995, The AP news reported.

“Having our own energy in this country that we control, gives us security, gives us independence, so (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can’t put his boot on our throat," Starmer said. “And it means that we can control the prices in a way that we haven’t been able to in recent years, which has meant very high prices for businesses, for households and for families."

The government also announced that Rolls-Royce is the preferred bidder to develop a number of small modular reactors, which it said can power around 3 million homes and help fuel power-hungry industries like AI data centers.

The Treasury said building Sizewell C will create 10,000 jobs. The investment announced Tuesday is in addition to 3.7 billion pounds the UK government already committed to the project.

Nuclear power is seen as an increasingly important electricity source as the government seeks to decarbonize Britain’s electricity grid by 2030, replacing fossil fuels with low-carbon power.

The UK also wants to reduce its dependence on imported oil and gas, especially in light of soaring energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But critics have said nuclear plants are far more expensive and slow to build compared with renewable energy options such as solar and wind power. Environmental groups have also argued Sizewell C will damage local nature reserves that host wildlife like otters and marsh birds.

About 300 people joined a protest against the development at the Suffolk site over the weekend.

“Net zero is supposed to happen by 2030 — there is no way this is going to be completed by then," said Jenny Kirtley, a local resident who chairs the campaign group Together Against Sizewell C.