Appeal to the participants of the 67th IAEA General Conference

67th IAEA General Conference will take place on September 25-29, 2023 in Vienna.

Even though Russian troops have repeatedly endangered the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine by their actions, and the largest nuclear power plant in Europe – the Zaporizhzhia NPP – is used as a tool of nuclear blackmail, Russia continues to be a member of the IAEA and can influence the decisions of this organization.

SaveDnipro NGO (Ukraine) together with the Ecoaction NGO (Ukraine) have prepared an appeal to the participants of the 67^th session:

“We, the representatives of civil society organizations of Ukraine, are addressing you in connection with the threats to nuclear safety posed by the actions of the Russian Federation and its occupying military forces on the territory of Ukraine and with the demand for urgent measures to regulate nuclear safety worldwide.

For more than a year and a half, the entire civilized world has been watching how the Russian troops ignore the requirements of nuclear and radiation safety, and blackmail with the possibility of large-scale accidents at large facilities with radiation hazard:

• Russian troops shelled Ukrainian nuclear power plants 17 times;
• 11 missiles have flown dangerously close to Ukraine’s nuclear power plant since the beginning of the full-scale invasion;
•  The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine reported five times that the Russians were preparing provocations at the nuclear power plants of Ukraine – Chornobyl NPP and Zaporizhzhia NPP;
• There were three cases of an emergency shutdown of nuclear power units at various NPPs of Ukraine due to massive missile attacks on the combined power grid.

In March 2022, the Russian Federation seized Zaporizhzhia NPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. For the first time in the history of humankind, an operational nuclear installation happened to be in a combat zone under the control of the military of the aggressor country. For the first time in history, a war is being fought over nuclear power plants, and for the first time in history, we have a precedent for nuclear terrorism. Ample evidence, including satellite imagery, suggests that the Russian military has included the ZNPP reactor buildings in its tactical defense planning, setting up combat positions on the roofs of the reactor buildings. Such objects are not designed for conducting military operations. They should not be attacked in accordance with the norms of international law (Article 56 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 for the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts”.) Such actions also violate the principles of the Organization of the United Nations, its Charter, international law, and the IAEA Statute. The IAEA mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been going on for more than 200 days, while the aggressor country does not feel any consequences for itself and continues to exert pressure on Europe and the whole world.

These facts testify to Russia’s non-compliance with the norms of international law, international conventions, laws, and customs of war. As a result of the failure of the Russian army to comply with any resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors, Russia’s further unrestricted right for unimpeded activity or activity beyond the rules and regulations in the structure of the IAEA Board of Governors and its executive bodies calls into question the possibility of ensuring the main functions of the IAEA Statute, namely: to promote the peaceful use of the atomic energy and to prevent its use in any military purposes.

With this letter, we call on representatives of member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency, delegates of the 67^th IAEA General Conference, to take the following measures:

1. Exclude the Russian Federation from the IAEA Board of Governors. Contribute to non-election (of Russian representatives) to the Board of Governors of the IAEA for 2024 and subsequent years, as long as any armed aggression of Russia continues on the territory of sovereign Ukraine.
2. Suspend the rights of Russia as a member of the IAEA: the opportunity to participate in programs of technical cooperation, scientific and technical exchange, and international research projects conducted under the auspices of the Agency, the assistance provided by the Agency, return of materials and equipment supplied to Russia for use, etc.
3. Remove Russian citizens from performing duties in the executive body of the IAEA.
4. Update the Statute of the organization and other founding documents of the IAEA, taking into account the challenges created by the armed aggression of one participating country against another.
5. Refuse any financial contributions from Russia to the activities of the IAEA and reduce the dependence of international structures on the influence of Russia”.

This appeal will be sent to the representatives of the delegations of the IAEA participating states on the eve of the session.

Representatives of SaveDnipro NGO will attend the opening session of the General Conference in Vienna on September 25. Besides, a campaign “russia is a nuclear terrorist” will be organized in the center of Vienna together with the Mrija NGO (Austria). It aims to inform the public about the facts of russia’s nuclear terrorism in Ukraine.