Appeal to the IAEA: Ukraine demands that Russian forces be prevented from coming within 30 km of nuclear power plants

Tuesday, 8 March 2022, 00:38

Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko said that Ukraine is demanding that IAEA make an official record of the seizure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the Zaporozhzhiya NNP by Russia's occupying forces in Ukraine.

Source: Herman Halushchenko in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine

Verbatim: "We hope that this will be an incentive to take tough decisions on ensuring the security of Ukraine's nuclear energy and, consequently, the nuclear security of Europe and the world.

"Ukraine has also appealed to the European Commission and the UN to conduct special missions to ensure nuclear security in Ukraine and the world, as well as to identify all crimes of Russian military aggression that threaten the safe operation of nuclear facilities in Ukraine".

Details: According to Halushchenko, Ukraine has already sent official appeals to the IAEA outlining its vision of guaranteeing security in the context of Russia's hostilities on Ukrainian territory.

In particular, Ukraine emphasises the need to take such actions as an immediate ceasefire and a ban on the occupying forces coming within 30 km of nuclear power facilities. The country also filed an appeal that NATO establish a no-fly zone (A2/AD zone) over the territory of Ukraine on behalf of the IAEA, given the locations of NPPs in the country.

In addition, Ukraine considers it necessary to intensify the activities of the IAEA in order to coordinate the prevention of acts of nuclear terrorism at the Chernobyl NPP, as well as humanitarian and psychological assistance to its staff with a detailed record of events.

Ukraine also insists on banning Russia's access to IAEA intellectual and technological resources and severing relations with Russian citizens employed in UN structures related to nuclear energy.

Ukraine suggested strengthening IAEA-led monitoring and control of the situation at the Zaporizhya NPP (Energodar), South Ukraine NPP (Yuzhnoukrainsk), Rivne NPP (Varash), Khmelnitskyy NPP (Netishyn) and other Ukrainian nuclear facilities with the involvement of international organisations specialising in nuclear safety and other international bodies, including the WHO and ICRC.

Herman Halushchenko stressed that Ukraine insists that a special OSCE monitoring mission should establish round-the-clock monitoring and analysis of the situation at all domestic nuclear facilities, including the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhya NPPs, as well as other Ukrainian NPPs.

Background:

Russian occupying forces seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on 24 February.

Nuclear safety at the Zaporizhya NPP was compromised, and reactors were in danger due to shelling by Russian military personnel and a resulting fire on the night of 4 March.

Firefighters were not immediately allowed to put out the fire caused by the shelling, but they accessed the facilities later, and the fire was extinguished at 6:20.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the world community and said that no one had ever shelled nuclear power plants, the Russians were blackmailing everyone with an explosion and the world was threatened by a global catastrophe.