UN Chief calls for international inspectors to be given access to Ukrainian nuclear plant

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres today asserted that the international inspectors to be given access to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant after Ukraine and Russia traded accusations over the shelling of Europe’s largest atomic plant. Mr Guterres said, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needed access to the plant. However, IAEA Chief Rafael Mariano Grossi warned on Saturday that the latest attack underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster.

At a news conference in Japan, Mr. Guterres said that any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing. He was attending the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 77th Anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing. On Saturday, Ukraine said, the Russian shelling had damaged three radiation sensors and hurt a worker at the Zaporizhzhia Power Plant, the second hit in consecutive days on the site.

On other hand, the Russian-installed authority of the area said, Ukrainian forces hit the site with a multiple rocket launcher, damaging administrative buildings and an area near a storage facility. The Russian Embassy in Washington also released a statement itemising the damage. However, Russian forces captured the plant in southeastern Ukraine in early March, but it is still run by Ukrainian technicians.