Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, said that to cool the Zaporizhzhya NPP systems, the water level in the reservoir dropped drastically due to the collapse of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam. He warned of the risks of the nuclear power plant.
“The dam at Novaya Kakhovka was severely damaged, causing a severe drop in the water level in the reservoir from which the water was supplied to cool the ZNPP,” Grossi said.
He pointed out that the prolonged absence of water for cooling in the Zaporozhye NPP will disrupt the operation of emergency diesel generators and cause them to fail.
“Our current assessment is that there is no immediate threat to the safety of the power plant,” the IAEA chief said in a statement. Said.
He warned that if the water level in the reservoir used to cool the nuclear power plant drops below 12.7 m, it will not be able to continue pumping. In the morning the water level was 16.4 m.
At the same time, Grossi said ZNPP has several alternative water sources for cooling.
“The main one is a large cooling pool next to the zone. <…>this pond will be enough to provide water to cool for several months,” said the head of the agency.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern at the situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
“We are constantly watching [за обстановкой на станции]”, — the head of government of Germany quotes Reuters.
No direct threats
The IAEA said experts at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant were “monitoring the situation closely”. According to them, there is no direct threat to nuclear security at the station.
The Rosenergoatom concern (part of Rosatom) also stated that the collapse of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station will not affect the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in any way. “The cooling system is outside of the risk zone,” Renat Karchaa, advisor to the Rosenergoatom president, told Interfax.
ZNPP Director Yury Chernichuk assured that staff are in control of the situation at the factory.
The water level in the cooling pool has not changed and is 16.67 m. According to him, the water cooling the spent nuclear fuel pools at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant does not come into contact with the water from the Kakhovka reservoir.
He said that five of ZNPP’s units are in “cold shutdown” mode, while one is in “hot shutdown” mode. Karchaa suggested “not escalate the situation” and promised that experts would compensate for the fall in the Kakhovka reservoir “in other technical ways”.
Acting Governor of the Zaporizhzhya Region Yevgeny Balitsky said that the water level in the Zaporizhzhya NPP area has dropped by 2.5 meters.
“This does not threaten the situation, this is an acceptable level, of course it is abnormal, but it is not a situation that will not affect the failure of the nuclear power plant or in any way affect the security of the region and our regions.” ”, Balitsky stated.
In an interview with Caution Media, ecologist Anatoly Batashev expressed the view that a drop in water level does not pose an immediate threat to the nuclear power plant, although the overall environmental consequences of this accident are “terrible.”
“The main threat to the ZNPP right now is that the water barrier is greatly reduced, and if hostilities arise here, the ZNPP may well be at the epicenter,” said the expert.
The collapse of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station
In the Kherson region, on June 6, the upper part of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was destroyed. The head of the Nova Kakhovka administration, Vladimir Leontiev, said the reason for the shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukraine blamed Russia for the incident, saying that the station was blown up from inside.
Flood threatens 80 settlements. Ukrainian authorities announced the evacuation of the population. The mayor of Nova Kakhovka said that about 300 houses located downstream in Korsunka and Dnepryany could fall into the flood zone. They also announced that people would be removed. In Novaya Kakhovka, the streets are covered with a layer of water, and swans swim in the square in front of the city’s Palace of Culture. The water level in the city is over 10 meters.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the consequences of the attacks on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant endanger thousands of people and damage the environment. He described the destruction of the hydroelectric power station as an outrageous event that once again demonstrates the brutality of the conflict in Ukraine. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under the article on the terrorist attack in connection with the collapse of the dam. Ukraine announced that it will start a meeting of the UN Security Council due to the collapse of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.