Global Nuclear Community backs IAEA call for safety zone at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Issued 8 September 2022

Representatives of nuclear industry trade associations and professional societies have issued the following statement regarding the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine:

A nuclear safety and security protection zone should be established immediately around Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as recommended by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in their recent report. This would include the withdrawal of all military forces from the site and cessation of shelling and military activity in the vicinity of the plant.

The global nuclear community supports the continuous presence of the IAEA at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to ensure the safety of staff and the physical integrity of the plant in the current extreme circumstances. The agency inspectors should have unrestricted and unmediated access to the operating staff and the areas of the facility to accurately assess conditions at the site.

We stand ready to give the IAEA and Energoatom whatever support is necessary to ensure the safety of its nuclear facilities and staff.

ENDS

Notes to editors

This statement is issued jointly by the American Nuclear Society, Canadian Nuclear Association, Canadian Nuclear Society, European Nuclear Society, Nuclear Energy Institute, Nuclear Industry Association, Nuclear Institute, Nucleareurope  and World Nuclear Association,