USA: A nuclear disaster was marginally averted in Zaporizhia

The planet survived a nuclear disaster overnight when a fire broke out during the Russian attack on the occupation of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia in Ukraine, said today at the extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council the US Ambassador to the United Nations Greenfield and asked for assurances from Moscow that a similar attack would not happen again.

He noted that the attack was a “dangerous new escalation” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and warned that “imminent danger” remained, citing Russian troops 32 km from Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear facility.

The attack by the Russian forces on the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia poses a “huge threat to the whole of Europe and the world,” he said. “Thank God the world survived a nuclear disaster,” he said overnight, calling the attack “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”

“Not only did he (Vladimir Putin) not listen to the calls to stop his invasion of Ukraine, but we just witnessed a new dangerous escalation that poses a serious threat to Europe and the world,” she said.

Russian ambassador: “Campaign of lies against Moscow”

For his part, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the SA that Russia did not attack the nuclear power plant, refuting the accusation, saying it was a “lie”.

The Russian diplomat accused Ukraine of setting fire to the facility. The accusation that Russia is responsible “is part of a campaign of lies” against Moscow, he said. Nebenzia, however, acknowledged that fighting was raging in the area with Russian troops. But he spoke of exchanging fire between “light weapons” that he said did not involve bombing. He said the security of the nuclear site was guaranteed, urging the West to “calm down”.

At a special meeting of the Security Council requested by the United Kingdom, British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said there was no doubt that “Russian forces” attacked the Zaporizhia site, which houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

“The international community must remain calm and reasonable,” said Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Joon. “We must not add fuel to the fire,” he said, calling for dialogue.

Military operations around nuclear facilities and other critical political infrastructure are “unacceptable” and “highly irresponsible”, and Rosemary DiCarlo, the head of the UN Security Council’s Political Affairs Office, told International Security Assistance Force that it was against international law.

For his part, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, spoke via video from a plane heading to Tehran, stressing the “importance” of nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

He reiterated that he was ready to go to Ukraine for nuclear facilities and clarified that he had submitted a request to Ukraine and Russia, which “are studying”. This IAEA mission will be limited to the “security” of the premises, without political intervention, he argued.

Russian forces have seized the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, during heavy fighting in southeastern Ukraine in the early hours of Friday, bombing and setting fire to a building adjacent to the headquarters, Ukrainian authorities said.

The seizure of the nuclear power plant has fueled fears of a lack of access to radioactivity measurements and the chances of a nuclear accident, experts say, although they stress that there does not appear to be an immediate radiological risk.

SOURCE: Thetoc.gr