Permanent Representative in Vienna Ulyanov appreciated the idea of ​​the IAEA on the security zone around the ZNPP

MOSCOW, 7 Sep — PRIME. The impression that the idea of ​​the IAEA to create a nuclear safety zone around the Zaporizhzhya NPP is still loose, crude, but its vector deserves attention, said Mikhail Ulyanov, permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna.

“I have the impression that this idea is still loose, crude, but its vector seems worthy of attention. In his report in the last paragraph, the CEO said that intermediate measures are needed to reduce the nuclear threat. And this idea is a protection zone for operational and nuclear safety at the Zaporizhia NPP is just an attempt to find some more substantive steps in terms of strengthening nuclear safety at this facility. That is, the attitude is absolutely correct, we share it. But, as the Anglo-Saxons say, the devil is always in the details. We need to take a better look at what is behind this,” he said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

He also noted that the main drawback of the report is that the agency is completely moving away from naming those responsible for the threats to nuclear safety at this station.

“Although, of course, the IAEA employees, having visited this station, now they have two people left there, until the rotation somewhere at the end of September, apparently, they should know perfectly well that Ukrainians are firing, but to say this aloud to the agency itself, apparently , can’t afford,” Ulyanov said on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel.

Last week, an IAEA mission arrived at the Zaporozhye NPP. The head of the Rosatom delegation and employees of the Zaporizhzhya NPP conducted a mission through its territory and showed parts of the station that had been damaged during the shelling of Ukrainian troops. As Mikhail Ulyanov, permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, told RIA Novosti, two IAEA employees will remain at the Zaporozhye NPP on a permanent basis.

On Tuesday, IAEA representatives published a report on the work of the delegation at ZNPP. Among other things, the organization recorded damage to a special unit for storing radioactive waste and fresh nuclear fuel. Agency officials called for an end to the shelling of the station and its environs, as this could damage critical equipment and release radioactive materials in an unrestricted manner. In connection with the security threat, it is proposed to create a nuclear safety zone around the nuclear power plant.

Russia accuses Ukrainian troops of systematic shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and regrets that the IAEA did not indicate the source of the fire in its report on the results of a trip to the plant. The Russian side convened a meeting of the UN Security Council following the visit of an international agency mission to the station. The IAEA had the opportunity to make sure that the military of Kyiv poses the only threat to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, there is no internal threat to the plant, Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s permanent representative to the organization, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.