Anna Moskwa made the statement at the 66th General Conference of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on Monday, news outlets reported.
This year, the IAEA’s annual get-together explores nuclear safety, the development of nuclear energy and threats to nuclear security caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said.
Russia should 'immediately withdraw from Zaporizhzhia’
Moskwa told reporters after Monday’s proceedings: “The IAEA mission to Zaporizhzhia, and especially the report from its visit, show clearly that there is evidence that Russian forces and Rosatom [Russian state nuclear energy company] personnel are at the site, while the plant’s Ukrainian staff are being terrorised, which prevents the normal functioning of the station.”
The Polish climate and environment minister added: “On behalf of Poland we called on the IAEA to make Russia immediately withdraw from Zaporizhzhia.”
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in the early days of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. In August, the station was shelled several times by Russian troops, raising the threat of a radioactive leak. Moscow blamed Kyiv for the incidents, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Sanctions
Moskwa said she had told the IAEA conference that if Russia refused to withdraw from Zaporizhzhia, it should be “suspended as a member of the agency” and then, if necessary, “expelled from the IAEA.”
The climate and environment minister said that the Polish proposal was backed “by Ukraine and Canada, among other countries.”
Earlier this month, the IAEA adopted a Polish-Canadian resolution urging Russian troops to leave the Zaporizhzhia plant.
While in Vienna, Moskwa held talks with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
“The US agrees with us that a clear process should be put in place with concrete sanctions for Russia if it fails to withdraw from Zaporizhzhia,” she told reporters.
Polish-US nuclear cooperation
Moskwa said she and Granholm also discussed an American offer to build nuclear reactors in Poland.
“We are still analysing the American, South Korean and French offers,” she stated, adding that the government “will make a decision on whether to approve the agreement with the US when we are ready,” as cited by the PAP news agency.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, dziennik.pl, iaea.org