By Arul Louis United Nations, Sep 7 : In the midst of widespread warnings of the possibility of “catastrophe” in Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, which is in the middle of the Ukraine conflict, India has called on both Moscow and Kiev to demonstrate “mutual control”.
“With the aim of not putting at risk the safety or security of nuclear facilities as well as the personnel who work there We reiterate our call for mutual restraint that is strict,” India’s Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said on Tuesday at the Security Council meeting on the dangers to the Zaporizhzhia plant.
“India is very concerned about making sure that there is security and safety of nuclear installations in Ukraine because any incident involving nuclear facilities could have serious consequences for the public health as well as the environment”.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for demilitarising the area around the facility, and warned that “any damage, whether deliberate or otherwise, to Europe’s biggest nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia or any other nuclear plant in Ukraine could result in catastrophe, not just for the immediate area but also for the entire area and even further”.
Althoughtthe Zaporizhzhzhia nuclear power plant is currently under Russian control, the plant continues to be run by Ukrainians.
The region around the facility has experienced shelling, and in addition to the possibility of an immediate hit it also has the risk of losing the capability to cool its reactors as well as spent fuel in the event that it loses energy internally or via the Ukraine grid, resulting in the possibility of a meltdown.
Russia as well as Ukraine continue to trade accusations over who is accountable for threatening the plant.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, who visited the plant last week declared: “We are playing with the fire.There is a chance that something extremely catastrophic and extremely destructive could happen.”
The IAEA released a report on Tuesday, which calls for “immediate creation of an immediate nuclear security and safety zone” around the plant.
Guterres suggested a two-step approach to safeguard the plant, starting with the two sides signing a the commitment not to engage in military activities from the plant or in its direction.
Then, he said, there must be a deal to establish an “demilitarised border”.
“Specifically this could include a promise by Russian forces to remove all military equipment and personnel from the area, as well as a promise by Ukrainian forces to not enter the area,” he said.
As Russia’s Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzia has accused Kiev of attacking the plant Ukraine’s Permanent Representative Sergiy Kyslytsya claimed that the provocations by the plant continued, and the only way to stop nuclear threats is for Moscow to leave the plant and hand over the facility to Ukraine.
After speaking to journalists, Nebenzia sounded sceptical about the idea of demilitarisation, saying that it was not serious.
He claimed that the plant in Russian control was under military supervision and said his country was trying to defend it.
Russian forces occupied a second nuclear facility that was decommissioned, the Chernobyl facility, in February.However, they retreated following month.
The Chernobyl facility was the site of the worst nuclear accident in the world in 1986 that resulted in radiation leaks that killed 31 people, but continue to affect a multitude of people.
An exclusion zone of 20 miles was constructed around the decommissioned facility and structures were constructed to contain the radiation.
It is essential for the radiation to be monitored continuously.
(Arul Louis is reached via [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter at @arulouis.)
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