FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL

Posted On

07
September
2022

UN peacekeeping contingent at ZNPP may be one of ways to create security zone – Energoatom

KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The introduction of a UN peacekeeping contingent to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) site and nearby territories, which will mean the withdrawal of the Russian military from there, may become one of the ways to create a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the plant, Energoatom President Petro Kotin has said.

"The introduction of the UN peacekeeping contingent into the territory of the plant, Enerhodar, and the nearest territories requires additional diplomatic efforts on the part of the UN, the international community. At the same time, this may be one of the ways to create the security protection zone at the Zaporizhia NPP – to bring in a peacekeeping contingent there and withdraw the Russian military," Kotin said on the air of the national telethon on Wednesday.

At the same time, he stressed that the proposals of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the creation of the security protection zone at the ZNPP are very necessary, although he noted: "They could do more."

"If they mean by the security protection zone the demilitarization of the plant, which we originally proposed to make demilitarized, then we will really fully support and do everything to create such a zone in the form of the de-occupation of the ZNPP and the absence of any military there," Kotin explained.

As the president of Energoatom noted, the IAEA actually admitted in its report that the root cause of the violation of all seven safety pillars of the nuclear facility at the Zaporizhia NPP, determined by the agency, is the presence of the Russian military and representatives of Rostatom at it.

"The IAEA provided seven recommendations in the report, and we are now working on creating an appropriate plan for their implementation. Its goal is, in the end, to de-occupy the plant," the president of the company emphasized.

Describing the situation at the Zaporizhia NPP, he focused on the need to restore communication with Ukraine’s power system as soon as possible, since all the main and backup power lines were damaged due to shelling, the plant operates in one unit solely to meet its own needs.

"Unit No. 6 operates in the so-called ‘island’ mode, on its own and to meet the electricity needs of the ZNPP itself. This is a very dangerous mode, it has not been practiced. So far, everything is fine, but we need to update the communication lines as soon as possible. We are working on this now," Kotin assured.