Ukraine's MFA Named Three Essential Conditions for Safety at ZNPP
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has emphasized that the conditions necessary to ensure safety at the Zaporizhia NPP - and to which official Kyiv is ready to agree - are its de-occupation, demilitarization, and return to Ukrainian control.
"The only way to ensure the nuclear safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia power plant is its de-occupation, demilitarization and return to Ukrainian control. All IAEA efforts must be focused on achieving this goal. Anything short of this won’t make Russia stop its dangerous game," Oleg Nikolenko, Spokesperson for the Ukrainian MFA, wrote on Twitter.
The only way to ensure the nuclear safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia power plant is its de-occupation, demilitarization and return to Ukrainian control. All IAEA efforts must be focused on achieving this goal. Anything short of this won’t make Russia stop its dangerous game
— Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) September 12, 2022
Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has seen signs that Ukraine and Russia are interested in the agreement to create a nuclear safety zone around the ZNPP, and that Kyiv and the Kremlin are discussing with the IAEA the radius of the nuclear safety zone and the role of IAEA staff.
On 1 September, a mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at the ZNPP in occupied Enerhodar. On 5 September, four of the six members of the IAEA mission completed their work and left the ZNPP, with two representatives of the organisation remaining at the plant.
The IAEA released a report on Tuesday regarding radiation safety in Ukraine, which included data on the mission's visit to the ZNPP.
Members of the IAEA team confirmed that Russian forces deployed military personnel, vehicles and equipment at various locations throughout the ZNPP, including several heavy military trucks on the first floor of the turbine halls in power units No.1 and No.2. The IAEA also noted that a Rosatom expert group was present at the plant. [Rosatom is Russia’s state nuclear/atomic energy corporation - ed.]
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, said that a safety zone around the ZNPP needs to be established immediately to prevent a nuclear accident.