UN Nuclear Chief Warns about Ukrainian Nuclear Center
2022-08-04
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1The United Nations nuclear chief has warned that Europe's largest nuclear power center is, in his words, "completely out of control."
2Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, made the comment to the Associated Press (AP) Tuesday.
3Grossi said the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine is getting more dangerous every day.
4He said, "Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated" at the nuclear production center.
5Russia seized the plant soon after it started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
6Grossi said the physical integrity of the plant has not been respected.
7At the beginning of the war, the center was shelled and both sides accuse each other of attacking it.
8He also called the situation "paradoxical" because the plant continues to operate with Ukrainian workers although Russia controls it.
9Grossi added that contact between the IAEA and the workers was "faulty" and "patchy," meaning incomplete.
10In addition, supply lines for equipment and parts had been interrupted.
11So, it is unclear if "the plant is getting all it needs," said Grossi.
12He added that the IAEA needs to perform some very important inspections to make sure nuclear material is being safeguarded.
13The Russian capture of Zaporizhzhia raised fears that the center with 15 nuclear reactors could be damaged.
14The fear was of another nuclear disaster like the one that took place in Ukraine's Chernobyl plant in 1986.
15That was the world's most severe nuclear accident.
16Russian forces also seized Chernobyl at the beginning of the war but handed control back to Ukrainians at the end of March.
17Grossi visited on April 27 saying IAEA assistance had been "very, very successful so far."
18The IAEA leader said he and his team need protection to get to Zaporizhzhia and cooperation from Russia and Ukraine.
19He also said the agency's visit would ease conflict.
20"The IAEA, by its presence, will be a deterrent to any act of violence against this nuclear power plant," he said.
21On Monday, Grossi spoke at an event marking the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
22The Argentinian diplomat also spoke about the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers.
23He said the negotiations were "complex" but "not impossible."
24He added that some IAEA inspections of Iran's nuclear program would continue without an agreement.
25But he noted that cooperating with the IAEA would help Iran "build trust and confidence."
26Grossi also said that the nuclear submarine deal between the United States, Britain and Australia would require an agreement with the IAEA to make sure no nuclear material is lost.
27I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The United Nations nuclear chief has warned that Europe's largest nuclear power center is, in his words, "completely out of control." 2Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, made the comment to the Associated Press (AP) Tuesday. Grossi said the situation at the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine is getting more dangerous every day. 3He said, "Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated" at the nuclear production center. 4Russia seized the plant soon after it started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. 5Grossi said the physical integrity of the plant has not been respected. At the beginning of the war, the center was shelled and both sides accuse each other of attacking it. 6He also called the situation "paradoxical" because the plant continues to operate with Ukrainian workers although Russia controls it. Grossi added that contact between the IAEA and the workers was "faulty" and "patchy," meaning incomplete. 7In addition, supply lines for equipment and parts had been interrupted. So, it is unclear if "the plant is getting all it needs," said Grossi. He added that the IAEA needs to perform some very important inspections to make sure nuclear material is being safeguarded. 8The Russian capture of Zaporizhzhia raised fears that the center with 15 nuclear reactors could be damaged. The fear was of another nuclear disaster like the one that took place in Ukraine's Chernobyl plant in 1986. That was the world's most severe nuclear accident. 9Russian forces also seized Chernobyl at the beginning of the war but handed control back to Ukrainians at the end of March. Grossi visited on April 27 saying IAEA assistance had been "very, very successful so far." 10The IAEA leader said he and his team need protection to get to Zaporizhzhia and cooperation from Russia and Ukraine. He also said the agency's visit would ease conflict. "The IAEA, by its presence, will be a deterrent to any act of violence against this nuclear power plant," he said. 11On Monday, Grossi spoke at an event marking the 50-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The Argentinian diplomat also spoke about the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers. He said the negotiations were "complex" but "not impossible." 12He added that some IAEA inspections of Iran's nuclear program would continue without an agreement. But he noted that cooperating with the IAEA would help Iran "build trust and confidence." 13Grossi also said that the nuclear submarine deal between the United States, Britain and Australia would require an agreement with the IAEA to make sure no nuclear material is lost. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15Edith M. Lederer reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. 16______________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18integrity -n. the quality of being complete and whole 19paradoxical -adj. made up of two opposite things 20confidence -n. the feeling or belief that someone or some group is good or able to succeed at something 21_______________________________________________________________________ 22We want to hear from you. 23We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 24Write your comment in the box. 25Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google. 26Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.