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Russia shares IAEA chief’s belief in need to prevent nuclear disaster, envoy says

So far, Rafael Grossi has defined only a broad conceptual framework, with a message of the need to take effective measures to prevent a nuclear disaster, Mikhail Ulyanov said

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Moscow shares International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi’s belief in the need to prevent nuclear disaster at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant (NPP), Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said in an interview with TASS.

"So far, Rafael Grossi has defined only a broad conceptual framework, with a message of the need to take effective measures to prevent a nuclear disaster and stop attempts to use the nuclear power plant as a target of and a staging ground for military activities. We fully share this belief. This is an axiom for us as we are convinced that Ukraine must stop shelling the Zaporozhye NPP," he pointed out. Ulyanov noted that Russia had told the IAEA Board of Governors about that.

At the same time, the Russian envoy emphasized that Grossi’s proposal to ensure the safety of the Zaporozhye NPP required further clarification. "Since the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP and the presence of two of the agency’s employees at the facility did not make it possible to end Ukrainian shelling, the agency’s director general came up with an initiative to ensure the nuclear and physical nuclear security of the nuclear power plant and the area around it. However, the initiative requires further clarification," the diplomat stressed.

According to Ulyanov, the IAEA chief will probably present "additional considerations to elaborate his initiative" in the near future. "After that, we will be able to shape our final position on the idea," the envoy said. "In any case, the so-called demilitarization of the nuclear power plant is out of the question at least because it hasn’t been militarized," he added.

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. An IAEA mission led by Grossi visited the facility in early September and two of its members remained at the site as observers. The IAEA later published a report calling for the creation of a safety zone around the plant to prevent accidents caused by military activities.

Eurasian Economic Union

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