The IAEA said Tuesday that it does not currently see any danger to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Ukraine after the intensification of military confrontations between Russian and Ukrainian forces along with the destruction of a water dam. The UN's nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that it saw "no immediate nuclear safety risk" but was exploring options to get water to keep cooling Europe's biggest atomic plant after a dam in southern Ukraine was damaged. The UN body, however, made it clear that it is closely monitoring the situation there. The evaluation of the NPP in Ukraine differs from that of IAEA, said a statement issued by the Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi on the sidelines of the meeting of IAEA's Board of Governors. "Our current assessment is that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant," he pointed out. The Nova Kakhovka dam was severely damaged today which led to a significant reduction in the level of the reservoir used to supply cooling water to the Zaporizhzhia NPP, he added. The destruction of this major dam in Ukraine, which supplies water to the Zaporizhzhia NPP, could cause power outages and backup power supplies, as happened in recent months, he mentioned. IAEA revealed that there are several alternative sources to provide water for the Ukrainian NPP, the most important of which is "the large cooling pond next to the site that by design is kept above the height of the reservoir." At the end of his statement, Grossi called "on all sides to ensure that nothing is done to undermine that." Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for the damage at the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam and offered conflicting versions on the safety situation at the Russian-occupied plant, some 150km away. The Kakhovka dam sits on the Dnipro River, which feeds a reservoir providing cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Water in the reservoir was at around 16.4m early Tuesday, and if it drops below 12.7m, then it can no longer be pumped to the plant, Grossi warned, adding this could happen in "a few days". Plant staff were making "all efforts to pump as much water into its cooling channels and related systems as possible", while supplies for "non-essential consumers of water" at the plant were being stopped, he added. Besides that, IAEA is looking to confirm whether a large cooling pond next to the site would be able to provide water for cooling "for some months", he said, adding that this pond "by design is kept above the height of the reservoir". "It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Nothing must be done to potentially undermine its integrity. I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that," said Grossi, adding he will visit the plant next week. Grossi has repeatedly called for the protection of the plant as shelling has taken place near it and several times disrupted its crucial power supply. The plant's Russian-installed director, Yuri Chernichuk, said there was no security threat to the plant as the cooling pond could provide the water. — Agencies
