Last week’s breach of the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine threatens the stability of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest, by draining a critical source of coolant water, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
The breach of the dam early on June 6 caused a rapid drop in the water levels of the Kakhovka reservoir and further complicated the “already precarious nuclear safety and security situation” at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the agency said in a statement on June 11. The agency has not made another statement on the situation since.
Since Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago, the IAEA and the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration have supported Ukrainian efforts to prevent a nuclear accident. Artillery dueling and other combat operations near the plant have threatened the plant’s external power supply multiple times, which it requires to continue cooling its nuclear reactors.
The level of the Kakhovka reservoir began dropping rapidly when the downstream dam was severely damaged. Both Russia and Ukraine blame the other side for the breach, which has flooded huge swathes of Ukraine.
But International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) personnel at the power plant reported over the weekend that it had been stable for about a day as measured at the inlet of the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) where water is pumped into a channel for use at the nearby nuclear power plant.
“The thermal power plant plays a key role for the safety and security of the nuclear power plant a few kilometers away,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. “I fully expect that our experts will be able to go there very soon to independently assess the situation. I will also personally raise this important matter with the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.”
Water levels are continuing to fall elsewhere in the huge reservoir, the IAEA said. Officials at ZNPP told the IAEA team that it can pump water from the reservoir to the plant to cool its six reactors and spent fuel until the level falls to 11 meters or possibly lower. At 9 a.m., local time on Sunday, the water level at the thermal plant was 11.27 meters, according to the IAEA.
In addition to monitoring the situation at the nuclear plant, the IAEA is now offering to use its expertise and resources in the application of nuclear science to assist Ukraine in other areas in the affected region.
“Through the use of nuclear techniques, we will determine the effects on potable water, human health, and soil and water management and assess the integrity of critical infrastructure. Ukraine can count on our assistance now and in dealing with the longer-term consequences of this disaster,” he said.
