Diplomatic battle over the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia

The G-7 yesterday demanded that Russia return the Zaporiya nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian government in a statement issued from Germany, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the group of most industrialized countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Germany).

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
14 August 2022 Sunday 14:39
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Diplomatic battle over the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia

The G-7 yesterday demanded that Russia return the Zaporiya nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian government in a statement issued from Germany, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the group of most industrialized countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, France, Italy and Germany). "We demand that Russia immediately surrender to the legitimate sovereign owner, Ukraine, full control of the plant" because "it is the continued Russian rule over the nuclear power plant that puts the region at risk." Russia, for its part, has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the plant, which is scheduled to take place today.

Moscow and Kyiv have been accusing each other since last Friday of having carried out several attacks on the plant – under Russian control since last March – without any independent source being able to confirm this.

According to the BBC, the Russian representative to international organizations based in Vienna – including the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA – Mikhail Ulyanov accused Kyiv of creating "artificial obstacles and difficulties" for a visit by inspectors. from the IAEA to Zaporizhia. Russia on Monday said it was willing to receive it.

The director of Energoatom, the Ukrainian state company that owns the plant, Petró Kotin, who had proposed that the plant be returned to Ukraine, constituted in a demilitarized zone and controlled by peacekeepers, told the Reuters agency yesterday that right now there would be no security guarantees for the IAEA inspectors and that it would be better if the visit was organized by the United Nations. Kotin said that some of the projectiles dropped last weekend hit the spent fuel stores, an area that has 174 containers of highly radioactive material. “The risk is very high,” he emphasized. It must be remembered that the plant is in Russian hands, and in this sense Ambassador Ulyanov asked that the director of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, report today to the Security Council on the attacks suffered at the plant.

Rafael Grossi, who had been insisting on the urgency of an inspection, said in his last statement, on Tuesday, that "based on the information provided by Ukraine, IAEA experts estimate that there is no immediate threat to nuclear safety as a result of the Saturday incident” last, attributed by Kyiv to Moscow.

Ukraine now accuses Russia of trying to divert the plant's electricity production. According to Petró Kotin on Ukrainian television, “the Russian military present at the plant is implementing the program of – the Russian nuclear operator – Rosatom aimed at connecting the plant to the Crimean electricity grids”. To achieve their purpose, they must first "destroy the power lines of the plant connected to the Ukrainian energy system." From August 7 to 9, the Russians damaged three power lines, he said, so the plant is operating with only one line, which is an extremely dangerous way of working. “When the last production line is disconnected, the plant will be fed by diesel generators. Everything will then depend on its reliability and fuel stocks, ”he warned. At that time, it will no longer be connected to the Ukrainian power grid.