Russians deny IAEA access to newly built dam near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been denied access to a newly built dam on the channel of one of the cooling ponds at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
Source: Slovo i Dilo (Word and Deed), a news portal, with reference to an IAEA report
Quote: "The IAEA team based at the ZNPP site – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) – continues to request access to the newly constructed dam but have not yet been permitted due to security concerns."
Details: The dam is designed to support the plant’s reactor cooling system. The IAEA emphasises that access is crucial for assessing the situation regarding the cooling water.
In addition, during this week’s walkdown, the IAEA team was unable to access the western section of the turbine hall at one of the Zaporizhzhia NPP reactors.
In late May, an IAEA representative told Reuters that there were no signs indicating that Russia was preparing to restart the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. In April, the Russians said they did not want to give up control of the occupied plant as part of a peace agreement, Slovo i Dilo recalls.
Background:
- On 13 August, the IAEA reported difficulties in ensuring a reliable supply of water for cooling the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which is temporarily occupied by Russia.
- "The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since spring 2024 but still require cooling water for their safety systems, reactor cores, and spent fuel pools," the IAEA reported.
- On 10 August, the External Crisis Centre of Zaporizhzhia NPP was damaged in a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia.
- On 4 July, Russian forces caused a blackout at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by striking a transmission line connecting the plant with Ukraine’s unified power grid.
- Later, it was reported that the power lines connecting Zaporizhzhia NPP to the Ukrainian power grid were operating normally, providing reliable external power to the plant to ensure radiation safety.
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