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Zaporozhye NPP still pumping cooling water from Kakhovka Reservoir — IAEA

According to IAEA experts at nuclear power plants, the water level in the reservoir drops by 4 to 7 cm per hour

VIENNA, June 9. /TASS/. The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) keeps pumping cooling water from the Kakhovka Reservoir, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday.

"Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya (Zaporozhye - TASS) Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is continuing to pump cooling water from the Kakhovka reservoir even though the water level has reached the point at which it was previously estimated that the pumps could no longer operate," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

According to the IAEA experts at the NPP, the reservoir’s water level is dropping in the range of between 4 to 7 cm per hour. It reached about 12.7 meters at 6 p.m. local time. It was earlier estimated that at this level the nuclear facility pumps could no longer function. According to new estimates, the pumps may still be operated even if the level drops to around eleven meters or even lower.

"Nevertheless, the general nuclear safety and security situation remains very precarious and potentially dangerous," Grossi said.