The Assembly also called for an immediate end to attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, after weeks of escalation.
The resolution entitled Safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was accepted with 99 countries for and nine against (Belarus, Burundi, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria). Sixty Member States abstained from voting.
Demand for nuclear energy
The resolution demanded that Russia “urgently withdraw military personnel and other unauthorized personnel” from the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and “immediately return” the factory to full Ukrainian control, to ensure its safety and security.
“(The Assembly) calls on the Russian Federation, until it returns the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant… to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Support and assistance mission to Zaporizhia with timely and full access to all areas of the plant important for nuclear safety and security, so that the Agency can fully report on the nuclear safety and security situation at the site,” the resolution said.
The draft resolution was introduced by Ukraine and supported by more than 50 other countries, including France, Germany and the United States.
Ukraine: Radiation knows no borders
Introducing the text, Ukrainian Ambassador and Permanent Representative Sergiy Kyslytsya said that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has deliberately become an integral part of Russia’s military strategy. He warned that the consequences of an incident there would be catastrophic.
“Radiation knows no boundaries,” he said, adding that radioactive fallout can travel great distances and affect areas far from the scene of the incident.
He said the draft resolution fully supports the mandate of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and emphasises the importance of the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security as outlined by the IAEA Director General.
He urged all countries to vote in favor of the resolution, stressing that “we owe it to future generations to ensure that the horrors of nuclear disasters are not repeated.”
Russia: A pseudo-nuclear package
Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy explained his country’s position ahead of the vote, saying the draft resolution was damaging, heavily politicized and had nothing to do with nuclear safety.
“The real aim is to use this pseudo-nuclear package to smuggle in political elements that have nothing to do with the problem posed. Even a cursory glance at the text is enough to make this clear,” he said.
He also said that the sponsors of the draft resolution resorted to non-inclusive and non-transparent methods, and that they “flatly” rejected all amendments from some delegations seeking to depoliticise the resolution.
He accused Ukraine of posing a real threat to nuclear safety and security and of regularly carrying out reckless attacks on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, its associated infrastructure and the nearby town where the plant’s workers and their families live.
