Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency has put the last operating reactor at The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, which is deemed Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, into a “cold shutdown” as a precautionary move after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, the agency said in a statement on Friday.
As per AP reports, five out of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, are already in a cold shutdown state.
The Ukrainian nuclear power agency Energoatom, released a statement on Friday saying that there was “no direct threat” to the Zaporizhzhia plant due to the breach of the Kakhovka dam, which has forced mass evacuations due to flooding and has also sharply reduced water levels in a reservoir used to help cool the facility.
Energoatom said that the last reactor was put into cold shutdown on Thursday because of several other factors influencing this decision including shelling near the site which damaged the overhead lines connecting the plant to Ukraine’s energy system.
Reservoir water still cooling Ukraine nuclear plant
The UN nuclear agency on Thursday said that Europe’s largest atomic power plant is still receiving water from a dam after it was breached in the fighting that occurred in Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is continuing to pump cooling water from the Kakhovka reservoir,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement.
Earlier, on Thursday, dam operator Ukrhydroenergo’s chief said that the “water level at the reservoir had gone below the critical point of 12.7 metres (42 feet)”.
“This means it could no longer supply the ponds at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station to cool the plant”, he said on Ukrainian television.
The IAEA said in a statement that its experts were informed that the plant had estimated after a review “that it should be able to pump water from the reservoir also after its level falls below 12.7 metres”.
“So far, the results indicate that the pumps can likely still be operated even if the level drops to around 11 metres or possibly lower,” the IAEA said.
The agency said the review included interviews with those “who have experience and expertise”.
“In these difficult and challenging circumstances, this is providing some more time before possibly switching to alternative water supplies,” AFP quoted IAEA head Rafael Grossi as saying.
“Nevertheless, the general nuclear safety and security situation remains very precarious and potentially dangerous,” added Grossi, who plans to travel to the plant next week.
He said the extent of the damage remained unknown, and it was also not clear “when and at what level the reservoir will stabilise”.
(With inputs from agencies)
