UN agency calls for safety zone around Ukraine nuclear plant

The UN atomic watchdog agency has urged Russia and Ukraine to establish a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the Zaporizhzhia power plant amid mounting fears the fighting could trigger a catastrophe in a country still scarred by the Chernobyl disaster.

“We are playing with fire, and something very, very catastrophic could take place,” the International Atomic Energy Agency’s head Rafael Grossi warned the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

In a detailed report, after days of inspecting the plant, the IAEA said shelling around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant should stop immediately.

“This requires agreement by all relevant parties to the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant,” it said.

At the Security Council meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also demanded that Russian and Ukrainian forces commit to halting all military activity around the plant and agree on a “demilitarised perimetre”.