VIENNA, June 6. /TASS/. The water level in the reservoir used to cool the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has seriously reduced due to the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant’s dam, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said.

"Today the Nova Kakhovka [Novaya Kakhovka - TASS] dam was severely damaged leading to a significant reduction in the level of the reservoir used to supply cooling water to the ZNPP," Grossi said in a statement published on Tuesday.

If the water level in the reservoir used to cool the Zaporozhye NPP falls below 12.7 meters, it will be impossible to keep pumping, he noted. "Water in the reservoir was at around 16.4 m at 8 am. If drops below 12.7 m then it can no longer be pumped," the statement says.

Earlier on Tuesday, the IAEA announced that it was aware of reports on the destruction of the Kakhovka hydro plant, but saw no immediate risk to safety of the Zaporozhye NPP.

At night, the Ukrainian military delivered a strike against the Kakhovka HPP presumably from an Olkha MLRS. The shelling destroyed the hydraulic valves that triggered an uncontrolled discharge of water. Water levels have already exceeded 10 meters in Novaya Kakhovka. Fourteen settlements are currently in the flood area and about 80 communities can be flooded. Residents of about 300 houses on the bank of the Dnieper River are already being evacuated. The destruction of the HPP caused serious damage to the environment.