Head of international atomic energy agency warns of ‘enormous suffering’ if Ukrainian plant fails

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said he was concerned by the threat of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine.

In an interview that aired Sunday on CBC Rosemary Barton Live, Rafael Mariano Grossi told CBC News political correspondent Rosemary Barton that the IAEA is doing what it can to protect the plant as the military braces for an anticipated Ukrainian counterattack.

For months, analysts have pointed to the Russian-held southern Zaporizhzhia region of southern Ukraine as one of the targets for the counterattack.

“If we had a nuclear accident there, it wouldn’t recognize the uniform or the flag,” Grossi said.

“It will add enormous suffering and suffering to the people there, this additional element that will have ripples and reverberations throughout the world.”

Grossi’s comments came after Russia ordered the evacuation of the town where most of the factory’s employees live in response to ongoing attacks in the area. Grossi said the evacuation was another source of concern.

“It’s an indicator of what’s planned or coming,” he said.

Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia factory just days after launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The IAEA called for a protection zone free of heavy weapons around the plant. Grossi said that was difficult to achieve in war.

“For military commanders in a war zone, they will be told that there is a zone where they cannot move or move … they don’t like it, they don’t want it,” he said.

Grossi said the IAEA was instead used in setting some basic rules of combat for the area around the plant – rules that would prevent both sides from firing at the plant, for example, or using it as a military base. He said he was trying to impose rules that would not give the military an advantage.

“The moment one side believes that this step will … favor the other side, they will oppose it,” he said. “So you know it’s a very narrow road.”

Grossi and the IAEA also monitor Iran’s nuclear program.

Back in 2015, Iran signed a nuclear agreement with world powers, including the US, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

It curbed Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions. But the deal fell apart after the US withdrew in 2018.

Grossi visited Iran in March, after IAEA inspectors found uranium particles enriched to 83.7 percent in the soil of Iran’s Fordo nuclear site.

He said the chances of Iran returning to the JCPOA were slim, but it was important to continue to engage with Tehran.

“There may be a return to the negotiating table, but if the interaction between Iran and the agency is seen or assessed as bad and cooperation is not good, the chances are zero,” he said.