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UN agency calls for safety zone around Ukraine nuclear plant
The UN atomic watchdog agency has urged Russia and Ukraine to establish a "nuclear safety and security protection zone" around the Zaporizhzhia power plant amid mounting fears the fighting could trigger a catastrophe in a country still scarred by the Chernobyl disaster.
"We are playing with fire, and something very, very catastrophic could take place," the International Atomic Energy Agency's head Rafael Grossi warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday (Sep 6).
In a detailed report, after days of inspecting the plant, the IAEA said shelling around Europe's largest nuclear power plant should stop immediately.
"This requires agreement by all relevant parties to the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone" around the plant," it said.
At the Security Council meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also demanded that Russian and Ukrainian forces commit to halting all military activity around the plant and agree on a "demilitarised perimeter".
Guterres has called on Russia and Ukraine to agree on a combat-free zone around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
"The current situation is untenable and the best action to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities and its people would be for this armed conflict to end now," Guterres told the UN Security Council in New York.
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The Zaporizhzhya plant and its surroundings must not be a target or platform for military operations, he said.
"Pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions there is an urgent need for interim measures to prevent a nuclear accident arising from physical damage caused by military means," Guterres said.
