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STORY: UN / UKRAINE NUCLEAR PLANT SITUATION
TRT: 04:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / CHINESE / NATS
DATELINE: 11 AUGUST 2022, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, UN Headquarters
11 AUGUST 2022, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“Recently, the situation at a nuclear facility and in particular at the Zaporizhzhia power plants in Ukraine have been deteriorating rapidly, to the point of becoming very alarming.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“Based on the most recent information, IAEA experts have preliminarily assessed that there is no immediate threat to nuclear safety as a result of the shelling or other military actions. However, this could change at any moment. With certainly can all agree that any nuclear catastrophe would be unacceptable and therefore preventing it should be our overarching goal.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“I ask that both sides cooperate with the IAEA and allow for a mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to proceed as soon as possible. This facility - you are aware, it has been said many times - it's currently in Russian-occupied territory, so it cannot be reached by traveling exclusively through Ukrainian-controlled territory. We have worked and need to work pragmatically with authorities of both countries in efforts to obtain access for our experts to Zaporizhzhia.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“I reiterate that the military actions that have even the smallest potential to jeopardize nuclear safety or nuclear security at such a nuclear installation must stop immediately. These actions could lead us to serious consequences.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“Kyiv’s criminal attacks on nuclear infrastructure are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe, comparable in scale with Chornobyl.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“At the 10th Review Conference of the NPT, which is taking place now in New York, the Kyiv’s regime representatives, with the support of several others, are making cynical and absurd accusations, saying that Russia is attacking Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants. These propaganda attacks are being seized upon by the Western press.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Bonnie D. Jenkins, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, United States:
“Russia continues to deploy disinformation to distract from the realities on the ground and now claims that Ukraine is culpable for the situation at the Zaporizhzhia facility. This completely ignores the real issue, which is Russia’s illegal presence at the facility.”
16. Wide shot, Security Council
17. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, China:
“We call on all parties concerned to exercise restraint with caution, refrain from any action that may compromise nuclear safety and security, and spare no effort to minimize the possibility of accidents.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“But the only way to ultimately remove the nuclear threats stemming from the illegal Russian presence at the nuclear power plant is the withdrawal of the Russian troops and the return of the station to the legitimate control for Ukraine.”
20. Wide shot, Security Council
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“Russia must immediately cease all actions against nuclear facilities in Ukraine and return control over all ceased nuclear facilities to the Ukrainian side.”
22. Wide shot, Security Council
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“Ensuring the safety and security of nuclear facility cannot be seen as a goodwill gesture. This is the duty of an occupying power in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
24. Wide shot, Security Council
Military actions with even the smallest potential to jeopardize nuclear safety or security must stop immediately, said IAEA’s chief. “These actions could lead us to serious consequences,” he added.
Briefing the Security Council today (11 Aug) on the situation in Ukraine, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi said that the nuclear safety and security situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been deteriorating rapidly, “to the point of becoming very alarming.”
Today’s Security Council meeting took place a few days after shelling at the ZNPP sparked widespread alarm about the potential risk of a severe nuclear accident at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has six reactors.
Based on the most recent information, Grossi noted, IAEA experts have preliminarily assessed that there is no immediate threat to nuclear safety as a result of the shelling or other military actions.
However, “this could change at any moment,” he stressed.
“Any nuclear catastrophe would be unacceptable, and therefore preventing it should be our overarching goal,” Grossi said.
Grossi also briefed on his efforts to agree and lead an IAEA expert mission to the site as soon as possible.
Director General Grossi reiterated that the mission would require the cooperation, understanding, and facilitation of both Ukraine and Russia, as well as the continued support of the United Nations and Secretary-General António Guterres.
Also briefing at the Security Council, Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, said that at the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Kyiv’s representatives “are making cynical and absurd accusations, saying that Russia is attacking Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants.”
He added, “These propaganda attacks are being seized upon by the Western press.”
“Russia continues to deploy disinformation to distract from the realities on the ground and now claims that Ukraine is culpable for the situation at the Zaporizhzhia facility,” said Bonnie D. Jenkins, US’s Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
“This completely ignores the real issue, which is Russia’s illegal presence at the facility,” she added.
According to Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, the only way to “ultimately remove the nuclear threats stemming from the illegal Russian presence at the nuclear power plant is the withdrawal of the Russian troops and the return of the station to the legitimate control for Ukraine.”
He added, “ensuring the safety and security of nuclear facility cannot be seen as a goodwill gesture. This is the duty of an occupying power in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
