COLLECTIVE ADDRESS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTORS TO THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
APPLIES TO ALL INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH
NO - NUCLEAR THREATS OF UKRAINE!
World experience shows that the destructive effects of nuclear weapons on the environment are obvious. Violation of nuclear safety standards is becoming the most serious threat to the health and survival of terrestrial civilization on a global scale. This is evidenced not only by studies from scientists around the world, but also by assessments of the consequences of previous military radioactive destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan) and significant regional releases of radioactive substances as the result of the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents.
Threats of radioactive contamination and contamination have no borders. In the conditions of hostilities launched by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, they are becoming more real, their consequences may be irreversible for the whole continent. At the same time, it is obvious that there will be no winners after the nuclear catastrophe.
Capture of the Chernobyl NPP and the largest Zaporizhzhya NPP in Europe by the Russian military (as of March 9, 2022, about 500 Russian soldiers and 50 units of heavy equipment are at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, where the station staff was forced to record a propaganda appeal to justify its nuclear terrorism and) the inability to adhere to the regulated work shifts and rest by the personnel of the Chornobyl station from February 24, 2022 and the Zaporizhzhya NPP from March 4, 2022 contradicts international nuclear safety standards. One of the seven key components of nuclear safety and safeguards approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency is "the ability of operational personnel to perform their security and physical security responsibilities and be able to make decisions without undue pressure", which is not the case here. Such violations include the fact that it is impossible to obtain constant reliable information from nuclear power plants through conventional communication channels, which is confirmed by the nuclear regulatory authority of Ukraine. Component 7 is being ignored - "there must be reliable channels of communication with the regulator and other parties".
In addition, the de-energization of the Chernobyl NPP on March 9, 2022 at 11:22 a.m. triggered a 48-hour countdown to a new nuclear catastrophe, as diesel fuel for the emergency generator will be enough for only 48 hours. The operation of the generator provides cooling of 20 thousand spent fuel assemblies; forced ventilation and maintaining the pressure below atmospheric in the new confinement to prevent the release of radioactive substances outside it; working condition of the fire extinguishing system. Failure to restore electricity supply threatens the release of radioactive substances and their transfer to Belarus, Russia, Europe and other regions of Ukraine.
Attacks on nuclear facilities are an unprecedented violation of international humanitarian law, in particular Article 56 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention, which states:
«Installations and structures containing hazardous substances, namely dams, dams and nuclear power plants, SHOULD NOT BE ATTACHED TO ATTACKS even if such facilities are military facilities, if such an attack may result in the release of hazardous substances and further heavy casualties among the civilian population».
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN UKRAINE IS CONTRARY TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THE UN STATUTE, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND COMMON SENSE! THAT IS WHY WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTIVE ACTION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC SAFETY AGENCY.
WE APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, as a global center for cooperation in the nuclear field, the main aim of which is to achieve "faster and wider use of nuclear energy to maintain peace, health and prosperity throughout the world":
— Immediately oblige the Russian Federation to provide a "green corridor" to Ukrainian repairmen to restore electricity supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant;
— To prohibit hostilities around nuclear power plants and to oblige the Russian Federation to withdraw occupation troops from captured nuclear facilities;
— Accelerate the resolution of the issue of closing the skies over Ukraine in order to prevent air attacks on nuclear facilities and prevent a nuclear catastrophe on a global scale;
— Appeal to the International Atomic Energy Agency governments to support measures aimed at strengthening peace and nuclear security around the world, to recognize Ukraine as a springboard for Russia's military action in the nuclear sphere, and to recognize Russia as an international nuclear terrorist.
SERHIY CHERNOV, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Local Self-Government Bodies "Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils"
OLEKSANDR KOPYLENKO, Chairman of the National Commission for Radiation Protection of the Population of Ukraine, Ukrainian lawyer, politician, Deputy of Ukraine of the IX convocation
PAVLO MOVCHAN, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Society "Education" name by Taras Shevchenko
YURIY SHCHERBAK, Ukrainian writer, Minister of Environmental Protection of Ukraine 1991-1992, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Israel 1992-1994, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States 1994-1998, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Canada 2000 - 2003, doctor-epidemiologist
SERHIY POLYAKOV, Minister of Coal Industry of Ukraine 1995-1996, Head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration 1996-1997, Minister of Environmental Protection of Ukraine 2003-2005
OLEKSANDER BONDAR, Rector of the State Ecological Academy of Postgraduate Education and Management, Head of TC 82 "Environmental Protection", Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine