The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, warned on Thursday that the situation around Ukraine’s Zaporijia nuclear power plant, which has been controlled by Russian troops since March, remains “very fragile”.
“Unfortunately, the situation remains very fragile and unstable,” Grossi warned after meeting the general director of Russia’s Rosatom nuclear agency, Alexey Likhachev.
The person in charge of the United Nations nuclear agency explained that there should have been a rotation of IAEA employees at that plant today, but that did not happen.
“One group should have left the center and the other should have entered. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the exchange due to the situation in the region and strong explosions,” said Grossi, quoted by the RIA Nóvosti news agency.
Rosatom’s director-general, on the other hand, expressed confidence in the “very urgent” establishment of a safety zone around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
“Despite the highly politicized climate surrounding the subject, the agency maintains its professional demeanor and is looking for a real solution to the problem. We greatly appreciate the presence of IAEA specialists in the center,” assured Likhachev.
I am in Moscow to continue detailed technical work to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone around “s #Zaporizhia Nuclear power plant. I met @rosatom DG Alexey Likhachev and an intergovernmental group. Work will continue tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/pkDp8H20ar
– Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) February 9, 2023
Russia’s nuclear agency said Likhachev informed Grossi about “the measures taken by the Russian side” for the safety of the plant and the “comfortable living conditions” of his team, as well as their families.
The operation of the nuclear power plant remains guaranteed thanks to Ukrainian technicians to whom Russia has offered new contracts and added them to a Rosatom-owned company, following Russia’s annexation of Zaporijia in September 2022, which is considered illegal by Ukraine and the Allies Westerners .
The factory has been the target of periodic bombings, for which Moscow and Kiev are mutually responsible.
The IAEA has proposed establishing a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant, where the UN agency had a permanent presence last year, but there is still no agreement between the parties.
The director general of the IAEA was last in Moscow in December 2022 when he met Likhachov.
In January, Grossi traveled to Kiev, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the security situation in Zaporijia and the deployment of IAEA missions to other nuclear power plants in the country.
All six of the plant’s reactors remain shut down and two remain in warm shutdown mode to provide steam and heat to the facility and the nearby town of Energodar.
The installation also continues to receive the external electricity required for essential safety functions.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented 7,155 civilian deaths and 11,662 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
