DOI: 10.46340/eppd.2024.11.2.3
Mariia Kurando, Visiting Doctoral Fellow
Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Germany
How to cite: Kurando, M. (2024). Protecting Nuclear Facilities in Ukraine: Lessons from South Asia. Evropský politický a právní diskurz, 11, 2, 28-39. https://doi.org/10.46340/eppd.2024.11.2.3
Abstract
For more than two years, Russia’s war in Ukraine, its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), and military hostilities in the vicinity of the plant pose an imminent danger to its safe and secure operation. The world witnessed how a previously hypothetical scenario of a state army attacking nuclear facilities has turned into reality. The international community immediately condemned Russia’s actions and called for the protection of the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is the largest in Europe. The occupation of fully operating NPP is unprecedented, and procedures for dealing with such incidents have not been designed. It is primarily connected to the fact that nuclear security usually deals only with threats from non-state actors. However, currently, Ukraine is dealing with the state army and the refusal of the attacking country to withdraw its troops from the plant. The situation at the site remains fragile despite international endeavors and calls for establishing a demilitarized zone around the facility. This triggered a debate on what could be done to protect ZNPP and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. Experts have advocated for establishing a new, more specific and reliable international legal framework for protecting nuclear facilities. This, however, was met with severe criticism. Despite that, below the multilateral instruments is the bilateral level of cooperation. Thus, the experts also pointed to the example of India and Pakistan and the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks on Nuclear Installations and Facilities, concluded in 1988, as a path for resolving the Zaporizhzhia crises. However, there is a lack of understanding of under which circumstances it could work for Ukraine and the potential shortcomings. The article aims to examine the effectiveness of the Indo-Pakistani example for Ukraine.
Keywords: nuclear security, Ukraine, wartime, cooperation, India, Pakistan, CBMs, conflict zone, protection, NPP.
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