The head of the UN’s atomic agency has said he is concerned at the growing “phenomenon” of attacks on nuclear power plants during conflicts.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The National that the attack on the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago had prompted a planned trip to the UAE and the Gulf.
“The fact that someone is aiming at a nuclear power plant is extremely serious,” Mr Grossi said, speaking in London during his campaign to become the next secretary general of the UN.
A drone launched from Iraq into the UAE on May 17 struck a generator outside the inner perimeter of the Barakah plant, the Arab world's first commercial nuclear power station, and caused a fire.
Though Mr Grossi praised the plant's handling of the crisis, he said he feared that assaults on power stations – which could have huge radiological consequences – were becoming part of a pattern in warfare.
He has been deeply involved in the crisis at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant, which is under Russian occupation, and he also cited recent attacks near Al Bushehr in Iran.
“This is a phenomenon that is spreading, and it is incredibly dangerous and reckless,” he said.
Mr Grossi said he would travel to Abu Dhabi to visit the Barakah plant. Its management and the UAE’s nuclear regulatory authorities had performed repairs “very efficiently, very professionally”, he said. These allowed the station to be back in service within 12 hours.
He will then go to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “Obviously, this is an issue of potential transboundary consequences. This is why I will be in a few of the countries that have also requested the agency to be present to indicate what kinds of technical support and guidance could be imparted,” he said.
He said the agency did not have the evidence required to blame Iran for the attack. “There is a presumption, but it is not possible to determine with 100 per cent sureness the origin of this attack,” he said. “We need tangible proof of the origin of an attack.”
He referred to his address at the UN Security Council last week, in which he called such attacks “unacceptable” and said he was also reiterating this in conversations with governments.
Asked if the IAEA’s warnings were being ignored by belligerent states, Mr Grossi insisted that the agency’s presence at a site served as a deterrent from potential attacks.
“What we say is not irrelevant, and I say it with enormous prudence, because these conflicts are ongoing,” he said. “Almost every day we have an incident. But it is clear that the presence of the IAEA in Zaporizhzhia, in the other nuclear power plants in Ukraine and perhaps now in Barakah, is a powerful deterrent.”
UN election tour
Mr Grossi, who is standing for election as the UN’s next secretary general, has also criticised the organisation’s “absence” in global conflicts, including the Iran war.
He was in London for a UN hustings, alongside three other candidates: former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet; Ecuadorian diplomat and former president of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinosa; and the former vice president of Costa Rica, Rebeca Grynspan.
He hopes his work mediating on nuclear issues with warring parties, including the Iranian, Israeli and US governments, as well as Russian and Ukrainian leaders in the Zaporizhzhia crisis, will help restore faith in the UN’s ability as a peacemaker.
“I would hope that with the extensive background I have in the Middle East, we could put that experience to good use in order to give the process the comprehensiveness it needs,” he said.
Dialogue with Iran
Mr Grossi said he was confident he could restore the agency’s relations with Iran after Tehran blamed him for giving Israel an excuse to attack its nuclear facilities last year. Iran has yet to resume its co-operation with the IAEA, after passing a law to suspend it shortly after the war in June last year.
“I am sure we will get there. There is a minimal dialogue and exchange that we have, but it's very limited at the moment,” he said. “Their view is that while the conflict is ongoing, the time is not ripe for a resumption of full co-operation.”
The war has also raised concerns about the future of non-proliferation. The UN's review of the Non-proliferation Treaty – which takes place every five years – failed to produce a consensus for the second time. The disagreements this year were over language referencing Iran's nuclear programme.
Speaking at Chatham House on Friday, Mr Grossi acknowledged that the treaty, known as the NPT, was under threat, but said it had not been undermined by last week's outcome.
“The issue with a review process is that it is an easy prey to regional crisis. Traditionally, it was the Middle East, but then last time it was the war in Ukraine, and now it's attacks on nuclear power plants,” he said.
“The value of the NPT is what the NPT has given us, which we should not take for granted. There are dangers and challenges on the NPT right now.”
Energy security and climate diplomacy
The energy security crises caused by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could also reshape diplomatic approaches to climate agreements, Mr Grossi said.
While it is important to acknowledge the existential challenges faced by some states from climate change, he said, this needs to be balanced with the energy needs of developing economies.
“A dose of realism is necessary because of what is happening now, and not only because of this current war,” he told The National. “We have to try to reconcile principles and aspirations with economic realities.
“We cannot divide the world into good and bad when there is a common planet that we have, and there are common needs for development, so I believe that a more realistic and frank conversation … on climate issues is needed.”
