What is wrong with the position of the IAEA regarding the nuclear threats from Russia?
On March 10, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) endorsed the reappointment of Rafael Grossi as the Director General.
After another terrorist shelling by Russian troops on civilian infrastructure, which took place on March 9, 2023, Europe once again found itself on the brink of the largest nuclear catastrophe.
As a result of the destruction of the power supply system, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — the largest in Ukraine and Europe — was completely shut down. Therefore, a nuclear disaster of unprecedented scale (approximately six times that of Chornobyl) is becoming increasingly real.
49 states and Euratom have appealed to the IAEA demanding that Russians immediately leave the Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Several countries also insist on holding Russia accountable for its gross disregard of nuclear safety principles.
However, is the current leadership of the IAEA capable of reducing nuclear threats from Russia?
It is known that the most important tasks of the IAEA, established in 1957, are to ensure nuclear non-proliferation and to control the peaceful use of nuclear energy by establishing relevant nuclear safety standards and environmental protection. The Statute of this organization provides for a number of significant international responsibilities. However, does the practical work of this security institution truly correspond to its statutory capabilities?
Ukraine has its answer to this question, based on its history of relations with the IAEA.
It is known that Ukraine is one of the largest countries that utilize peaceful nuclear energy. In terms of the number of nuclear reactors, Ukraine ranks the 9th in the world and the 5th in Europe. Nuclear power provides over 50% of Ukraine’s total electricity generation.
Ukraine itself experienced one of the most significant disasters in the world — the Chornobyl accident. However, the true cause of the Chornobyl reactor explosion in the former USSR was deliberately concealed for political reasons. It was only in the early 1990s that a Special Commission of the Ukrainian Parliament (the author was a part of it) determined that the catastrophe was not caused by errors of the Chornobyl plant operators, as Soviet propaganda claimed, but rather by design flaws in the high-power channel-type reactors.
However, the then Director General of the IAEA, Hans Blix, to whom the commission’s report was presented, continued to propagate the Soviet “mantra” about errors by Ukrainian operators. As it is known, the erroneous assessment of the causes of the nuclear accident at the Chornobyl plant could have led to new “Chornobyls.” Therefore, Hans Blix acted in violation of the nuclear safety norms established by the IAEA in favor of Russia, which continues to operate these hazardous reactors to this day.
On the other hand, in response to the demand from the IAEA, Ukraine and Lithuania completely shut down their nuclear power plants (Chornobyl and Ignalina), which operated high-power channel-type reactors.
Similar inadequacies in the assessments of the IAEA regarding nuclear threats from Russia continue to persist even today during the Russian-Ukrainian war.
On February 24, 2022, Russian troops seized the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and damaged its power supply system. According to the norms of the IAEA, such actions constitute an act of nuclear terrorism and pose a significant risk of a large-scale radiation accident due to the disruption of the spent nuclear fuel cooling regime. A similar accident occurred on the territory of the Soviet Union in 1957 (the Kyshtym disaster) with enormous radioactive contamination and casualties among the civilian population. However, the response of the current Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, to Russia’s criminal actions appeared at least inadequate and unprofessional: he merely stated that the radiation levels at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant were within the normal range. There were no assessments of radiation hazards or demands for Russia to cease nuclear aggression.
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Even more involved and unprofessional was Rafael Grossi’s statement in Davos on May 25, 2022 (clearly influenced by Russians) regarding the storage of 40 tons of highly enriched uranium and 30 tons of plutonium at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which are suitable for the production of nuclear weapons.
As it is known, it is the IAEA that guarantees to the global community that its control over nuclear materials at peaceful nuclear power plants does not allow the possibility of manufacturing nuclear weapons. Therefore, such statements demonstrate the engagement of the Director General of the IAEA in Russian propaganda and the inability to objectively assess nuclear threats from Russia. Confirmation of this conclusion is the emotional yet utterly helpless reaction of Mr. Grossi to the recent Russian shelling that caused a power outage at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on March 9, 2023: “What are we doing? How can we sit here, in this room this morning, and allow this to happen? This cannot continue. We are the IAEA; we are meant to ensure nuclear safety.” Grossi also called on IAEA staff to commit to protecting the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant “right now.”
Calls for urgent actions and sanctions against Russia
Considering international nuclear legislation and the IAEA Statute, we would like to remind you of the immediate actions the Director General of this organization should take following a year of nuclear terrorism by Russia.
Firstly, it is crucial to urgently convene the Board of Governors of the IAEA and present a detailed analysis of all the criminal actions committed by Russia throughout the year that violate the IAEA’s nuclear safety standards.
Secondly, prepare a list of possible sanctions against Russia and Rosatom in accordance with international legislation. This includes the cleansing of the governing bodies of the IAEA and the Secretariat from excessive Russian influence and corruption.
Thirdly, urgently convene an extraordinary General Conference of the IAEA and deliver a report on the consequences of Russian nuclear terrorism throughout the year and present a list of potential sanctions that can halt the descent into a nuclear apocalypse.
Fourthly, if the governing bodies of the IAEA (Board of Governors and General Conference) fail to heed the proposals of their Director General, then as an honest and honorable individual who acknowledges its inability to fulfill the duties prescribed by the Statute, Mr. Grossi should resign from his position.
Doubts and questions surrounding the IAEA’s integrity and effectiveness
Such a principled stance would not only earn respect but could also serve as a significant warning to the international community about the need to finally put an end to Russian nuclear blackmail. However, such a sequence of events appears highly unlikely.
Indeed, despite the personal statement regarding the catastrophic safety situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, “We need action. I will continue urgent consultation and contacts,” the Director General, however, did not specify with whom exactly he plans to conduct urgent consultations and on what topic.
But the answer to this question is provided by the IAEA’s plans for 2023. During the year, the IAEA plans to hold nearly 10 international conferences and seminars in Russia. The main topics of these events will be nuclear and physical safety of nuclear power plants.
It is intriguing to ponder what kind of expertise the Russian “specialists” will be sharing with the international community, especially under the auspices of the IAEA. These “specialists” come from an aggressor country that has disregarded all existing international laws, a rogue nation with a nuclear arsenal that constantly threatens the world with a nuclear catastrophe, a country that has become a nuclear terrorist holding the world hostage, a country with a stolen history and a future already lost.
In this regard, the author personally has only one question: What exactly is the Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, doing? Is he fighting against nuclear terrorism or serving as a puppet to a terrorist state?
As it became known, on March 10, 2023, the IAEA Board of Governors re-elected Rafael Grossi as Director General until 2027. He was the only candidate for this position, and according to diplomats at the IAEA, the Board of Governors approved his candidacy by acclamation, i.e. without voting, as no country raised any objections to his candidacy.
Ukraine, despite its great nuclear power, has no representative on the IAEA Board of Governors. And only this year it plans to nominate a candidate. In the meantime, Russians provide such monolithic “unanimity” in the IAEA Board of Governors. Because they still have a controlling stake there. And there is no need to comment here.
Originally posted by Yuriy Kostenko on Glavcom.ua. Translated and edited by the UaPosition – Ukrainian news and analytics website
