The United Nations' nuclear watchdog announced Friday it was boosting its presence in Ukraine to help prevent a nuclear accident during the current conflict.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it would soon have a permanent presence at all five of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, including Chernobyl, the plant closed after the 1986 disaster.

The agency's chief Rafael Grossi will visit Ukraine next week to get the operation underway, the agency added in a statement.

"We must continue to do everything we can to avert the danger of a serious nuclear accident that would cause even more suffering and destruction for the people of Ukraine and beyond," said Grossi.

The decision marks a major expansion of the IAEA's activities in Ukraine. At the moment, only the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, which is near the frontline, has a permanent IAEA presence.

But under the new plan, 11 or 12 of the agency's experts will be present in Ukraine to monitor the plants and provide technical assistance.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced the plan in December after a meeting with Grossi, although he did not at that time give many details.

Inspectors will soon be deployed at the nuclear stations in Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Pivdennoukrainska and Chernobyl.

Grossi during his visit next week will also meet senior Ukrainian officials as part of his efforts to set up a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia plant.

North Korea slams UN chief over nuclear criticism
Seoul (AFP) Jan 14, 2023 - North Korea slammed United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday over his recent description of Pyongyang's nuclear programmes as a "clear and present danger".

Military tensions on the Korean peninsula rose sharply last year as the North conducted sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also recently called for an "exponential" increase in Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal and new ICBMs to counter what it termed US and South Korean hostility.

Guterres told the UN Security Council on Thursday the onus was on Pyongyang to resume talks, which collapsed in 2019 when nuclear negotiations between Kim and then-US president Donald Trump broke down in Hanoi.

"The unlawful nuclear weapons programme being pursued by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a clear and present danger, driving risks and geopolitical tensions to new heights," Guterres told a Security Council meeting on the rule of law that was chaired by Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Pyongyang released a statement late on Saturday in which it accused Guterres of having "typical double-standards" and committing the "dangerous act of destroying the trust of the world community in the UN".

The statement, attributed to Jo Chol Su, a senior official in Pyongyang's foreign ministry, also said Guterres was ignoring a "reckless arms buildup" by the United States that was "constantly bringing all sorts of nuclear strike means to the Korean peninsula and the region".

Jo also accused Japan of having "no moral and legal qualification" to be part of the UN Security Council because of its wartime and colonial past.

Pyongyang's statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, reiterated that the North will never give up its nuclear weapons.

It came after US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida touted Tokyo's beefed-up military posture during White House talks Friday.

Japan shook up its defence strategy in December with a pledge to increase spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, adding more muscular capabilities in the face of a rising China and an unpredictable North Korea.

Kim declared North Korea an "irreversible" nuclear state in September last year.

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