Situation at Zaporizhzhya NPP serious but stable, says UN nuclear chief
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A number of stabilization measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant after the Kakhovka Dam breach drained the reservoir that feeds the cooling pond for its six reactors, a senior UN official has said.
Rafael Grossi, the general director of the UN organization the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA, gave his assessment of the situation after visiting the plant on June 15.
"On the one hand, we can see that the situation is serious, the consequences (of the dam's destruction) are there, and they are real,” Grossi was quoted as saying by French daily newspaper Le Figaro.
“At the same time, there are measures that are being taken to stabilise the situation," he said.
The amount of cooling water available at the plant is still sufficient, Grossi added.
“I was able to see the cooling pond ... the irrigation gates, the canals which constitute the system essential to the cooling of the power station. It was very important that I could make my own assessment of the situation with my experts.”
One of the main aims of Grossi's visit to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant was to assess whether its reactors are at risk due to the destruction of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, which lead to the draining of the reservoir.
The reservoir’s water level has fallen from over 16 meters to under 7 meters since an explosion breached the dam in the early hours of June 6. Much of the bottom of the reservoir has now been left exposed.
The IAEA chief arrived in Ukraine on June 13. He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and presented an assistance program in the wake of the "catastrophic flooding" in Ukraine after the dam was destroyed by the Russian invasion forces, who had it under their control.
However, Grossi had to postpone his visit to the ZNPP due to safety considerations and was able to get there only on June 15.
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