the International Atomic Energy Agency calls for a “protection zone” around the Zaporizhia power plant

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, during a press conference on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (Ukraine), in Vienna, September 2, 2022. THERESA WEY / AP

Rafael Mariano Grossi has not ceased, since the beginning of the war, to affirm his “serious concern” about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, trapped on the front line. His visit to the facilities in Ukraine, after months of remote monitoring, only confirmed his concerns: in a report published on Tuesday 6 September, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) describes a situation “untenable” and calls for the establishment of a « zone de protection » around the site. “We are playing with fire and something really, really catastrophic could happen”he declared shortly after before the Security Council of the United Nations.

This report from the UN agency provides precise information on the state of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and its personnel, while neither the IAEA inspectors nor those of the Ukrainian safety authority had been able to visit the scene since the beginning of March. After months of negotiations, Mr. Grossi and his team finally got the green light from Kyiv and Moscow to visit the site on 1^is September, under complicated security conditions.

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Once in Zaporizhia, the international experts could only see the extent of the damage caused by the bombardments and the fighting. A building housing new fuel, the roof of the building housing the spent fuel transport vehicle or the container protecting the radiation monitoring system, for example, were damaged. On September 3, while continuing its mission, the IAEA team was itself ordered to take refuge on the ground floor of the administrative building while shelling was taking place nearby.

“Moral Imperative”

So far, these events have not triggered “nuclear emergency”, notes the IAEA. However, they represent “a constant threat” safety-critical functions, such as the containment of radioactivity and the cooling of reactors, which may be impacted. Staff could have been killed or injured, the report adds.

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If he didn’t call for a “demilitarization” of the area, Rafael Mariano Grossi said he was ready to begin consultations immediately to achieve the establishment of a « zone de protection ». “It can be done now, we have on-site inspectors working, and we have the moral imperative to prevent an accident from happening. “, he insisted.

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