The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed extreme concern about the arson attack on August 5 on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 6. The risk of a potential nuclear disaster at Europe's largest nuclear power plant is "very real", threatening public health not only in Ukraine but also in other countries.
Military action that endangers the safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is completely unacceptable and must be avoided at all costs, RT quoted IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi as saying. Sighting military fire at the facility is like playing with fire, with possible catastrophic consequences, Mr. Grossi added.
IAEA also proposed sending a delegation to the Zaporizhzhia plant to provide technical assistance on nuclear security and safety, while helping to prevent the situation from getting beyond control. Mr. Grossi said he was ready to personally lead such a delegation.
The delegation will conduct essential verification activities at the plant, providing nuclear safety and security equipment. However, for this to happen, IAEA will require United Nations support, as well as "cooperation, understanding and facilitation" from both Moscow and Kiev.
The IAEA statement stated: We must put aside the difference and take action now. We can't waste more time."
So far, neither Russia nor Ukraine have responded to the IAEA proposal.
Meanwhile, Russia accused Ukraine of shelling the plant, urging the United Nations and IAEA to stop attacking Europe's largest nuclear power plant.
The plant was seized by Russian forces at the end of February, when Moscow launched a military campaign in the neighboring country. The facility continues to operate with Ukrainian personnel under Russian control.
Igor Vishnevetsky, a senior official on arms dissemination and control at the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned that the shelling of the plant could end up causing an event similar to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
We would like to call on international organizations, especially the United Nations and IAEA, as well as countries affected by Kiev, to take action to immediately stop the arson against the nuclear power plant, Vishnevetsky said.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, some parts of the plant were power outages due to shelling, a fire broke out but was quickly extinguished. The ministry said, as a matter of absolute luck, the Ukrainian shells did not cause a larger fire and a possible nuclear disaster.
The ministry accused the Ukrainian military of also firing artillery shells into the neighboring city of Energodar, causing power outages and disrupting water supply. The ministry called on the international community to condemn Ukraine for nuclear terrorism.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the shelling of the plant was carried out by the Russian military. "This is a reason to impose tough sanctions on the entire Russian nuclear power sector," Zelensky said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian officials have previously accused Russia of using the plant as a "shield" for their soldiers.
Russia is using this plant as a military base to fire at Ukrainians, knowing that they cannot and will not fire back, so it could accidentally attack reactors or high-level radioactive waste being stored, Mr. Blinken said on August 1 at the United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Screening Conference.
The Russian delegation to the conference issued a statement rejecting Mr. Blinken's statement. The actions of the Russian armed forces do not threaten the nuclear safety of Ukraine in any way and do not hinder the operation of the plants operations.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that the plant needs to be inspected for repair and to prevent nuclear incidents from occurring.
The situation is very fragile. Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated in one way or another and we cannot allow that to continue, Grossi said later at an event in New York.
