KYIV, UKRAINE (AFP) – Ukraine’s nuclear operator said yesterday it would support the deployment of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant, a day after the UN atomic watchdog called for a security zone around the site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report on Tuesday saying the situation at the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, was “untenable”. The agency sent a team to the site last week.
It called for a demilitarised security zone to be established at the plant in southern Ukraine, which the Russians took over in March.
There has been repeated shelling around the site, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster.
Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said yesterday it would support the deployment of UN peacekeepers to the facility and called for Russian troops to leave.
“One of the ways to create a security zone at the (plant) could be to set up a peacekeeping contingent there and withdraw Russian troops,” Energoatom chief Petro Kotyn said in remarks broadcast by Ukrainian TV.
Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for shelling at the site, which continued on Tuesday even as the IAEA report was released.
The head of Ukraine’s nuclear security agency warned yesterday that a nuclear accident at the site could affect neighbouring countries.
Damage to the active zone of the reactor would “have consequences not only in Ukraine, but also definitely beyond its borders” Oleg Korikov told reporters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday there was “no military equipment” at the plant in southern Ukraine, adding that he “certainly trusts” the IAEA report. But earlier, Moscow had said it wanted “clarifications” from the IAEA.
“There is a need to get additional clarifications because the report contains a number of issues,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Interfax news agency.
“I will not list them but we requested these clarifications from the IAEA Director General.”
A 14-strong team from the IAEA visited Zaporizhzhia last week, and at least two members of the team were to remain there on a permanent basis to ensure the facility’s safety. But on Monday, the last working reactor was disconnected from the grid after shelling caused a fire.
Head of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety in France Karine Herviou warned of the risk of a “Fukushima-type scenario”, referring to the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster.
“We are not immune to strikes (at the plant) which, even if they do not directly affect the reactors, could lead to radioactive releases into the environment,” she told FranceInfo radio yesterday.
