The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday there was no immediate risk to nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as nuclear workers found a pond that could be used to cool the reactors for months after the Novaya Kakhovka dam was blown up. This is reported by Reuters and News.ro.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant should have enough water to cool the reactors for “several months” from a pond located upstream of the reservoir of the breached dam, the UN nuclear agency said on Tuesday, reaching out to two sides, Russia and Ukraine. , to keep this pond intact.

The reservoir in Nova Kakhovka supplied water used to cool the six reactors of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, as well as spent fuel and emergency diesel generators, which were repeatedly used when the power supply went out.

“There are several alternative sources of water. Chief among them is the large cooling reservoir next to the site, which is designed to be held at a higher elevation than the reservoir,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement released in response to the Kakhovka dam rupture.

There should be enough water in the pond for cooling for “several months,” Grossi said, adding that his agency would confirm that “very soon.”

“It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Do not do anything that could potentially undermine its integrity. I call on all parties to ensure that nothing is done to undermine this,” Grossi said.

The IAEA assures that the nuclear power plant in the south of Ukraine poses no threat

Although the head of the IAEA was already supposed to visit the plant in Zaporizhzhia next week, this visit has now become a matter of principle and will take place in the near future.

The head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant also said the plant, which has six reactors, is currently safe, but all are shut down and need cooling, a process that is carried out with water from a dam on the Dnieper.

The IAEA says it is closely monitoring the situation.

The Nova Kakhovka Dam is built on the Dnipro River and is a major Soviet-era project in the Kherson region in the Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine.

The dam, 30 meters high and 3.2 km long, stores the same amount of water as the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah. It was built in 1956 on the Dnipro River as part of the Kakhovskaya HPP.

The dam in Nova Kakhovka was damaged by several explosions

Russian occupation officials in the region said there were several explosions at the dam that destroyed the hydraulic valves of the hydroelectric plant, but that the dam was not completely destroyed.

The water level rose several meters in a few hours, causing flooding throughout the war zone.

“We ask all residents of the lower settlements to be ready for evacuation,” said the governor of the Kherson region, who was planted by the Russians.

The dam supplies water to the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, also controlled by Russia.

Both Ukraine and Russia said it was a deliberate attack by the other side’s forces. On Tuesday afternoon, the Kremlin said that one of the reasons for blowing up the dam was to stop the supply of drinking water to Crimea.

“The destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam only confirms to the whole world that they need to be removed from all corners of the Ukrainian land,” Zelenskyy wrote in the Telegram messenger.

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