IAEA Director General speaks of what he saw at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
After his visit to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressed the utmost need for maintaining the required levels of water in the pond that are essential for cooling the nuclear station; especially critical after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.
Source: Rafael Grossi's post on Twitter
Details: On 15 June, the IAEA Director General visited the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP for the third time.
After the visit, Grossi noted that one of the key consequences of the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant is a decrease in the water level in the cooling pond of the ZNPP, which is essential for the plant's safety.
Currently, the water level is remaining at a sufficient level to ensure that the station can maintain safety "for a certain period of time," he said.
Grossi added this will be monitored by IAEA very carefully.
My visit to #Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is the first after I established the @iaeaorg 5 principles for protecting the plant and avoiding a nuclear accident, which reinforce the essential role of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission at Zaporizhzhya #ISAMZ. pic.twitter.com/52DUyF7c9n
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) June 15, 2023
As he was leaving the occupied ZNPP, Grossi was shown the destroyed bridge on the front line of Russian and Ukrainian forces.
He noted that he had collected enough data and the IAEA would monitor the situation further.
My statement from the contact point between Ukrainian and Russian forces as we return from the #Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/E7y8HRVKAs
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) June 15, 2023
Background:
- On the morning of 6 June, Ukraine’s Operational Command Pivden (South) reported that Russian occupation forces had blown up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), completely destroying the dam and the power plant's turbine hall. The plant is beyond repair. The draining of the Kakhovka Reservoir threatens the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
- The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant has caused an environmental disaster. The water from the reservoir has begun to flood towns and villages, and evacuations of local residents from dangerous areas have begun. It has caused problems with the water supply in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Marhanets and Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the international society to bring the Russian occupiers to justice for destroying the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the crime of ecocide.
- The IAEA has announced the launch of a program of assistance to Ukraine as a response to the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the Kakhovskaya HPP disaster
"We are not afraid, we have sailed home." Ukrainska Pravda on high water and evacuation in Kherson
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