UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has urged Ukraine and Russia to adhere to five principles to prevent nuclear catastrophe at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.
Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on May 30 outlined the principles to the UN Security Council in New York during a briefing on safety at the plant, which has been a concern since Russian forces seized it shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
"The nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP...continues to be extremely fragile and dangerous. Military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future," he said in an apparent reference to Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.
Grossi told the Security Council that "there should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant" and said that it should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons such as multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks, or for military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant.
He also called for off-site power to the plant to remain available and secure, for all its essential systems to be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage, and for no action to be taken that undermines the principles.
"I respectfully and solemnly ask both sides to observe these five principles," said Grossi. "These principles are to no one's detriment and to everyone's benefit."
The IAEA intends to start monitoring the principles on-site, he added.
Russia said it would do all it could to protect the power plant, it did not explicitly commit to abide by Grossi's five principles.
"Mr. Grossi's proposals to ensure the security of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are in line with the measures that we've already been implementing for a long time," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Serhiy Kyslytsya said the principles "must be complemented with the demand of full demilitarization and de-occupation of the station," a demand previously made by the United States.
In response to Grossi's statement, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, "It is entirely, entirely within Moscow's control to avert a nuclear catastrophe and to end its war of aggression against Ukraine."
Grossi has been trying for months to establish an agreement to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident caused by military activity at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.
The plant, which is not generating electricity, has been affected multiple times by shelling that has caused outages of electrical power, which the plant needs to maintain the cooling of its reactors.
The plant, located in the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhya, supplied around 20 percent of Ukraine's electricity before power production was halted late last year.