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IAEA mission to monitor military activities around ZNPP — IAEA chief

Rafael Grossi added that this would help the IAEA to provide more detailed information

UNITED NATIONS, May 31. /TASS/. Monitors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will start monitoring the military activity at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and around it, the organization’s Director General Rafael Grossi said.

“What comes next is the continuity of what we have been doing. But, there is a difference in that <…> we are going now to be looking into detail with the aspects that we are covering in the [previously announced ZNPP security] principles. It has to do with military activity, possible militarization, attacks on or from the plant, things that were until now not a part of the mission,” he told reporters after Tuesday’s session of the UN Security Council.

He added that this would help the IAEA to provide more detailed information.

When asked by a reporter what would IAEA experts do if they register an attack on the plant, Grossi replied that they will report to the international community.

“The IAEA has maybe only one single power, it is the power of the pen, and we [would] report immediately [about the attack], and the international community would know immediately from an authoritative source what is happening. And we believe that this is a deterrent factor in case anybody would have the idea to attack a nuclear power plant. But it is not enough. We need peace,” Grossi said.

Earlier, Grossi put forward five security principles for the ZNPP: there should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant; ZNPP should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons or military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant; off-site supply of power to the plant should not be put at risk; all structures, systems and components essential to the safe and secure operation of ZNPP should be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage; and, finally, no action should be taken that undermines these principles.

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said the IAEA’s proposals on ensuring safety and security of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are consistent with the measures already undertaken by Russia. Ukraine’s envoy to the UN, Sergey Kislitsa, said Kiev favors demilitarization of the plant.

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