(Vienna) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in consultations with Kyiv and Moscow for the establishment of a safety zone around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, reported positive signals on Monday.
Posted at 12:31 p.m.
“I have seen signs showing that they are interested in such an agreement,” Director General Rafael Grossi told a press conference in Vienna on the first day of the UN Board of Governors.
“We are discussing the various technical characteristics”, such as the perimeter of this area or the work of the two IAEA experts present on site. “And what I observe is that both sides are cooperating with us and asking questions, lots of questions,” Grossi continued.
The spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy, Oleg Nikolenko, for his part once again pleaded on Twitter for the “de-occupation, demilitarization and return under Ukrainian control” of the plant.
“All of the IAEA’s efforts must be focused on achieving this goal,” he added.
In a report published last week shortly after an on-site mission, the IAEA recommended the establishment of a site protection zone.
Located in southern Ukraine and occupied since March 4 by Russian forces, this plant, the largest in Europe, has been bombed several times in recent weeks, Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of these strikes.
This situation raised the specter of a major nuclear disaster similar to that of Chernobyl in 1986.
If Kyiv for its part advocates a demilitarized zone, Mr. Grossi called for “keeping things simple”.
“Ukraine and Russia must agree on the very simple principle of not attacking or bombing the plant (….), there must be a commitment that no military action will target the plant and its surroundings. “, he explained.
“I cannot enter into considerations relating to a broad demilitarization process or troop movements, which are not part of my mandate,” he stressed.
The Board of Governors of the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, is meeting this week in Vienna, with the program of the possible vote on a resolution condemning Moscow.
According to several diplomatic sources, the various Member States have planned to examine in the middle of the week a text “calling on Russia to immediately cease all its actions” against the Zaporijjia power plant “so that the competent authorities”, namely Kyiv, “in regain full control.
On Sunday, Ukraine announced the shutdown of the sixth and last reactor in operation at the Zaporizhia power plant. The operator Energoatom has benefited from the restoration of an emergency power line, which now provides the power needed for fuel cooling and other essential safety functions.
But the situation “remains precarious”, Mr. Grossi warned, “after weeks of bombardment which damaged vital electrical infrastructure in the area”.