: Attacking a nuclear plant ‘suicidal,’ UN chief tells journalists in Japan #IndiaNEWS #International UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned a recent attack on a nuclear power station

Attacking a nuclear plant ‘suicidal,’ UN chief tells journalists in Japan #IndiaNEWS #International
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned a recent attack on a nuclear power station in southern Ukraine during a meeting in Tokyo on Monday with the Japan National Press Club.

“Any attack to nuclear plants is…suicidal,�? the UN chief said, adding that he hoped that the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be able to access the plant for inspection.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have denied responsibility for the strike on the Zaporizhzhia plant over the weekend.
While Europes largest nuclear power site has been under Russian control since the early days of the war, Ukrainian technicians are still running it.

Honoured to meet with Emperor Naruhito of Japan in Tokyo today. Japan is a pillar of the multilateral system and a global advocate for peace, human security and disarmament. pic. twitter. com/GsK2Ofc9JL
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 8, 2022

Nuclear disaster: ‘Real risk’
Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, said that Russian shelling damaged three radiation monitors around the storage facility for spent nuclear fuels, in which one worker was injured.
The shelling prompted IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to warn that the way in which Zaporizhzhia was being run coupled with the fighting around it posed “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster�?.
Since then, a preliminary assessment by UN atomic overseer experts found that the safety and security situation seemed stable with no immediate threat, despite that several pillars were breached.
“We support the IAEA on their efforts in relation to create the conditions of stabilization of that plant,�? said the UN chief, adding his hope that the IAEA would be able to access the plant.
Ukraine-Russia peace deal
When asked why a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine had not yet been realized, the UN chief said they had been working very closely with Türkiye, which had “launched a new initiative in relation to a possible start of peace negotiations�?.
But he explained that Ukraine cannot accept that “its territory is taken by another country�?, and that Russia “does not seem ready to accept�? that areas it had taken “will not be annexed by the Russian Federation or give way to new independent States�?.
Backwards world
Mr. Guterres’ comments followed a visit to Hiroshima over the weekend, where the Secretary-General marked the 77th anniversary of the worlds first nuclear attack on 6 August 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people.
Amidst Russian threats of a nuclear attack since it invaded Ukraine in February, fears of a third atomic bombing have grown.