The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says the current situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya power plant is "untenable" and there is "an urgent need for interim measures" to avoid a nuclear accident.
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“We are playing with fire, and something very, very catastrophic could take place,” Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, warned on September 6 while addressing the United Nations Security Council hours after the UN atomic watchdog issued a report on the situation at Ukraine's nuclear power plants.
The report urged Russia and Ukraine to establish a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant and said shelling at the site and its vicinity should stop immediately to avoid any further damage to the facility and for the safety of its operating staff.
The IAEA released the report following a recent visit by UN inspectors to the plant, which has been taken over by Russia's military but is operated by Ukrainian technicians. It said the best action to ensure the safety of the plant and all other Ukrainian nuclear facilities "would be for this armed conflict to end now."
The IAEA said it is ready to "immediately" start consultations leading to the "urgent establishment" of a security zone at Zaporizhzhya, Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to agree to establish a security zone.
"As a first step, Russian and Ukrainian forces must commit not to engage in any military activity towards the plant site or from the plant site," Guterres told the UN Security Council.
"As a second step, an agreement on a demilitarized perimeter should be secured. Specifically, that would include a commitment by Russian forces to withdraw all military personnel and equipment from that perimeter and a commitment by Ukrainian forces not to move into it," he told the 15-member body.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told the Security Council that Russia regretted that the report did not blame Kyiv for shelling the site.
"We regret that in your report...the source of the shelling is not directly named," Nebenzya said. "We do understand your position as an international regulator, but in the current situation it's very important to call things by their name," he said.
Senior U.S. diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis responded by saying that despite Russia's "song and dance" to avoid acknowledging responsibility for its actions, it had "no right to expose the world to unnecessary risk and the possibility of the nuclear catastrophe."
Nebenzya, asked later about establishing a demilitarized zone, said the proposal “is not serious” and said the Ukrainians "will immediately step in and ruin the whole thing."
He claimed that the Russians at the plant are defending it.
"In fact, it is not militarized. There is no equipment at the station," he said.
But IAEA inspectors observed Russian military personnel, vehicles, and equipment at various places at the Zaporizhzhya plant, the report said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commented on the IAEA’s report in his nightly address, praising its “clear references” to the presence of Russian troops and military equipment at the plant.
Referring to the report's proposal for a security zone, Zelenskiy said if it is aimed at demilitarizing the power plant and its surroundings, Ukraine can support it.
The report said the situation is unprecedented in that it is the first time a military conflict has occurred amid the facilities of a large nuclear power program.
Shelling continued around the plant on September 6, a day after it was again knocked off Ukraine's electrical grid and left to rely on its own power to run its safety systems.
The report also listed damage to parts of the plant and recommended improvements in conditions for the Ukrainian staff operating the facility, saying they are "under constant high stress and pressure" that "could lead to increased human error with implications for nuclear safety."