Sir, – This month, two nuclear power plants in Ukraine faced the frightening consequences of war. As the illegally occupied Zaporizhiza nuclear power plant lost power for the eighth time, the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant in western Ukraine faced a near-miss as Russian forces bombarded the surrounding areas with deadly missiles.
This is part of a worrying trend emanating from this war, where nuclear facilities have been brought into the increasingly volatile and unpredictable combat zones. This signifies to the world that the nature of modern warfare has changed forever, and brings with it a sense of foreboding for wars of the future.
Nuclear nightmares have no end. We cannot stress enough the risk that Zaporizhzhia and now Khmelnytskyi pose. Any use of nuclear weapons, or targeting of power plants, needs to be stopped immediately.
Since the outbreak of the war, we have been urging that all nuclear facilities be deemed a “no war zone”. We must invoke the Hague Convention which defines any attack on a nuclear facility to be a war crime.
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Let us call for the focus to shift to one of de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy. The immediate dispatch of a UN Observer Core, to defuse and monitor this perilous situation, is a vital first step. – Yours, etc,
ADI ROCHE,
Strategic Communications Manager,
Chernobyl Children International,
Cork.