IAEA must ensure safety
International agency should ensure safe operation at Ukraine’s nuclear facilities now in a war zone
Beyond Nuclear joined nine other international civil society groups in signing a letter that urges the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be transparent about the status of Ukraine’s 15 commercial reactors as well as the Chernobyl nuclear site.
Although Beyond Nuclear has no illusions about the nuclear power-promoting agenda of the IAEA, the agency is nevertheless responsible for safeguards at the nuclear sites that are still operational.
Expressing deep concern for the safety of Ukraine’s civilian population, the groups called on the IAEA to verify and ensure that qualified personnel are in operation of the 15 reactors and the Chernobyl site and that the public is immediately alerted to any radiation dangers.
In addition, the IAEA should request its member states and all parties in the conflict to refrain from military or other actions that could threaten public safety at the nuclear facilities.
Specifically, the five requests were:
- Determine who is currently responsible for the operation and the radiation safety of the Chernobyl site and investigate their degree of technical capability to deal with nuclear emergencies;
- Conduct assessments to identify the necessity to send additional nuclear technicians to maintain the safety of the Chernobyl site;
- Investigate and establish the status of Ukraine’s 15 reactor sites, to ensure their continued operation under qualified personnel;
- Ensure transparency and protect the right to information of local people by promptly publishing all relevant data and information, in the local language and English, regarding the radiation safety of all nuclear facilities and nuclear power plants in Ukraine; and,
- Request member states of the IAEA, in particular those of all parties to the conflict, to refrain from any military or other action that could threaten the nuclear safety and security of nuclear facilities in the conflict zone. More
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