2023-05-31 00:33:54
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, announced on Tuesday that the positions of Russia and Ukraine regarding five “concrete principles” that he put forward on Tuesday to avoid a “nuclear accident” at the Ukrainian Zaporizhya plant are “encouraging”.
“Today is a step in the right direction with regard to the safety of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Grossi told the UN Security Council, stressing, however, his fears of a nuclear “catastrophe”.
“The support for our work expressed today… including the five principles I outlined today is encouraging,” he added.
Grossi has been conducting negotiations for months to ensure the protection of this site in southeastern Ukraine, where the situation is considered dangerous due to the battles.
From this standpoint, Grossi presented to the Security Council on Tuesday “the basic principles necessary to prevent a nuclear accident.”
The first of these principles is “not to launch an attack of any kind on or once morest the plant, particularly targeting reactors, spent fuel, other infrastructure, or personnel.”
The principles also include that the site is not used for storing heavy weapons or military build-up, that the station is not disconnected from the electricity grid, and that it be protected from acts of vandalism. “The IAEA’s Five Principles for Averting a Nuclear Accident were established. The Agency intends to start monitoring the application of these principles through its on-site mission,” the Director General added. He told reporters that the agency’s presence in the facility would be “strengthened”.
realistic measures
Zaporizhya station, the largest in Europe, is located on the banks of the Dnipro River separating the two camps in this region.
The station has been repeatedly targeted and has been cut off from the electricity grid seven times since the Russian army seized it on March 4, 2022.
Grossi visited the station at the end of March, has a team of experts on site, and has since intensified his efforts, warning of “a real risk of a nuclear accident.”
An initially mooted idea of establishing a demilitarized zone around the site was abandoned to facilitate realistic measures acceptable both to Kiev and Moscow.
During the Security Council session, the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors exchanged accusations regarding the situation in Zaporizhia, without either of them rejecting the principles put forward by Grossi.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia commented, “Grossi’s proposals (…) are in line with the measures we have taken for a long time,” considering that Kiev and its Western allies are responsible for “threats” to the safety of the station.
On the other hand, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergei Kislitsia said, “We have taken into account the principles of the Director General to ensure the safety and security of the Zaporizhya power plant,” noting that these principles can apply to all power plants in the world.
But the ambassador stressed that “given the unique situation, with the illegal occupation of the station by another country, these principles must be complemented by the demand for complete disarmament and an end to the occupation” of the station.
Grossi considered that there are certainly “different approaches”, but “what is important is the common minimum. These five basic principles received widespread support. No voice opposed them,” he said.
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