nuclear-news

Attacking a nuclear plant ‘suicidal,’ UN chief tells journalists in Japan

• UN News, 8 Aug 2022 Relief Web

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 Europe’s largest nuclear power site has been under Russian control since the early days of the war, Ukrainian technicians are still running it…………………………….

During Monday’s news conference, the UN chief reiterated his warning over the use of nuclear weapons, saying that if used, the UN would probably be unable respond because “we might all not be here anymore”.

Against the backdrop that the world currently has 13,000 nuclear bombs while continuing to make huge investments into modernizing atomic arsenals, Mr. Guterres warned that after decades of nuclear disarmament efforts, we are “moving backwards”.

“Stop it,” he appealed, underscoring that the billions of dollars being leveraged into the arms race need to be used in “fighting climate change, fighting poverty, [and] addressing the needs of the international community”.

The Secretary-General will next be traveling to Mongolia and South Korea to discuss ways to address North Korea’s nuclear development.

‘Common sense’ restraint

When asked about China’s massive military exercises around Taiwan, Mr. Guterres said the UN “abides by a resolution of the General Assembly, the so-called One China policy”.

The dispute was sparked by a visit last week to island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“We all want that resolution to correspond to a peaceful environment,” he said, calling for common sense and restraint to allow for an “extremely important” de-escalation.  https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/attacking-nuclear-plant-suicidal-un-chief-tells-journalists-japan

August 8, 2022 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, safety