Zaporijjia nuclear power plant: “The bell is serious”, says the head of the IAEA

“The situation is serious,” the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the UN on Thursday. told the Security Council that Moscow and Kiev had requested access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which it accuses of carrying out the bombing.

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“The situation is very serious and the IAEA must be authorized to quickly carry out its work in Zaporizhia,” Raffaele Croci, speaking on video during this emergency meeting of the Security Council.

“Time is running out,” he insisted, with the IAEA trying for weeks to send a mission to inspect the plant.

The site of the Zaporizhia power plant, Europe’s largest, which has been under Russian control since early March, was bombed again on Thursday.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again dismissed the idea on Thursday when asked about allegations pointing to UN responsibility for the delay in sending the IAEA mission there.

“This is a nuclear power plant in the middle of a battlefield. I think we can imagine at least two or three sided barriers,” Stephane Dujarric noted.

Antonio Guterres and the United States on Thursday called for a demilitarized zone around the plant to guarantee the safety of the site and allow for inspection work.

“Unfortunately, instead of escalating, more disturbing incidents have been reported in recent days that, if they continue, could lead to catastrophe,” Antonio Guterres said in a statement.