The Biden administration said Monday it supported a “controlled shutdown” of Europe’s largest nuclear plant in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine war, saying it “would be the safest and least risky option in the near-term.”
National Security Council John Kirby told reporters that the administration was in favor of establishing a demilitarized zone around the plant located in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which is at risk of getting severely damaged by missiles, ABC News reported.
The plant has already been damaged during the war and was disconnected from power for the first time Thursday. It was also impacted earlier in August, after it was hit by shelling which damaged three radiation censors and an electrical power line, according to Ukrainian reports.
Kirby also endorsed the International Atomic Energy Agency visiting the plant.
“We fully support the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Grossi's expert mission to the power plant, and we are glad that the team is on its way to ascertain the safety, security and safeguards of the systems there, as well as to evaluate the staff's working conditions,” he said, according to the outlet. “Russia should ensure safe, unfettered access for these independent inspectors.”
The director of the IAEA warned that "every principle of nuclear safety has been violated" at the plant, and "what is at stake is extremely serious and extremely grave and dangerous."
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