Vienna, Sept 16, (dpa/GNA) – Member countries of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have called on Russia to abandon Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
The military occupation of the plant “significantly raises the risk of a nuclear accident or incident, which endangers the population of Ukraine, neighbouring States and the international community,” a resolution by IAEA’s board of governors said in Vienna on Thursday.
The Russian military and the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, should suspend all activities at the nuclear plant, and hand control back to Ukrainian authorities, the IAEA’s decision-making body in Vienna demanded.
The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks. Moscow and Kiev have blamed each other for the attacks.
After failures of the external power supply, which is used to cool the reactor cores, the power plant was completely shut down at the weekend. In the meantime, power lines have been restored to ensure cooling, even when the plant is shut down.
The ceasefire zone around the nuclear power plant proposed by IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, was highlighted in the resolution, but not explicitly supported.
Grossi himself had admitted on Monday, that various questions regarding the design of such a zone were still unresolved. Of the 35 countries represented in the board of governors, 26 voted in favour of the resolution, according to diplomats.
Russia and China voted against. Seven countries abstained.
GNA