MELITOPOL, June 6. /TASS/. No threats currently exist to the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) due to shelling damage that resulted in a breach of the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), ZNPP Director Yury Chernichuk said on Tuesday.

"In connection with the situation at the Kakhovka HPP dam: At the moment, there are no threats to the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. <...> The water level in the cooling pond has not changed and stands at 16.67 meters <...>. The situation is being monitored by the staff of the nuclear power plant," the ZNPP’s Telegram channel quoted him as saying.

The plant director clarified that the water used to cool the plant’s storage pools for spent nuclear fuel was on a closed loop circuit and was not in direct contact with the local environment or water sourced from the Kakhovka Reservoir, adding that the heat dissipation system normally depended on reservoir water but could be replenished using alternative water sources.

Chernichuk added that currently five of the plant’s power units are in cold shutdown mode while one is in hot shutdown mode.

Earlier, Renat Karchaa, adviser to the CEO of Russian state nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom, told TASS that Russia would be able to ensure the nuclear safety of the ZNPP in any case, even given a reduced water level in the Kakhovka Reservoir. According to him, one of the key elements of the reactor’s cooling system is the splash pool, which can be filled with water, including from external sources.

Ukrainian forces shelled the Kakhovka HPP in the early morning hours on Tuesday, presumably using missiles fired from an Olkha multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). Hydraulic sluice valves on the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, triggering an uncontrolled discharge of water.