KIEV (RockedBuzz via Reuters) – The destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine poses a threat to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, but the situation at the facility is under control, Ukraine’s state atomic energy agency said on Tuesday .
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Twitter that it was monitoring the situation closely, but that there was “no immediate risk to nuclear safety at (the) facility ” which is also found in southern Ukraine.
Explosions at the Soviet-era Kakhovka Dam in Russian-occupied territory on Tuesday sparked flooding in an area that is now a war zone, according to Ukrainian and Russian forces who blamed each other for the destruction.
Energoatom said Russian invaders had blown up the dam.
He said the Kakhovka reservoir’s water level was rapidly dropping, posing an “additional threat” to the Russian-occupied facility – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – which both sides blamed on each other for the bombings.
“Water from the Kakhovka Reservoir is needed for the station to receive power for ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant) turbine condensers and safety systems,” Energoatom said in a statement on messaging app Telegram.
“Right now the station’s cooling pond is full. At 8:00, the water level is 16.6 meters, which is sufficient for the station’s needs.”
“Currently, the situation at ZNPP is under control, Ukrainian personnel are monitoring all indicators,” he said.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration on Tuesday described the explosion as an “ecocide” committed by Russian forces. Russia blamed Ukraine for the incident.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk, editing by Timothy Heritage)
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