The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Tuesday that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would need a "special status" and a cooperation agreement between Russia and Ukraine if a peace deal is reached. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
No matter which side of the line it ends up on, there will have to be a cooperation agreement, or at least an atmosphere of cooperation.
Grossi's comments came as the administration of US President Donald Trump stepped up efforts to end the war. American and Ukrainian officials are trying to narrow differences on a draft peace plan that includes provisions for the future of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Without peace, there is a risk of a nuclear accident. Until the war stops, or there is a truce, or the guns fall silent, there is always the possibility that something will go very, very wrong. No operator can operate a nuclear power plant when on the other side of the river is another country that is resisting and may take action against it.
A draft US-backed 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, as seen in a copy reviewed by Reuters, envisages restarting the plant under IAEA supervision with an equal distribution of generated electricity between Russia and Ukraine.
Joint, not joint - I don't want to go into that, because it's politics... But that's what Ukraine and Russia will decide at some point. But one thing is clear: the IAEA is indispensable in this situation.
The six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia NPP have been in cold shutdown since 2022, relying on external power lines and emergency systems to prevent a complete blackout. The IAEA maintains a constant presence at the facility to monitor safety amid ongoing shelling.
As the publication notes, Russian troops seized the plant - the largest in Europe, with six reactors - in the first weeks of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The plant does not generate electricity, but both sides regularly accuse each other of military actions that jeopardize nuclear safety.