MELITOPOL, August 13. /TASS/. Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the cooling tower of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) once again to examine its elements destroyed during the August 11 attack of the Ukrainian armed forces, the plant’s Spokesperson Yevgenia Yashina told TASS.

"Today, on a request from the IAEA, international experts once again visited the cooling tower of the Zaporozhye NPP, damaged as a result of the Ukrainian strike on August 11. The experts examined plastic separation devices that were destroyed in the fire. To that end, they ascended to a servicing platform at the altitude of 15 meters," she said.

During their first visit to the damaged cooling tower, IAEA experts asked to survey the site of the blaze and the burnt-out equipment. They also asked additional questions about the tower’s design and had an opportunity to make sure that Kiev’s claims about automobile tyres set aflame on the territory of the cooling tower were false.

"Apart from the affected tower, we showed them the second one, which remains in operation. The group of experts established that the smell, which still permeates the location, was caused by burning plastic. And, they found no remnants of burnt tyres during their inspection, as well as no significant traces of ashes or soot at the tower’s foundation," Yashina added.

After that, the IAEA published a statement saying that the agency was not yet ready to draw its final conclusion and will continue looking into the matter.

On August 11, Ukrainian drones delivered two direct strikes on one of the two cooling towers at the Zaporozhye NPP, which resulted in a fire. The main fire was extinguished by Emergencies Ministry units by 11:30 p.m. on that day. Director of the plant Yury Chernichuk said earlier that plastic separation devices were the main fire source, adding that the drone with incendiary agent entered the cooling tower from the top and detonated there.

The fire did not affect the NPP’s operation, as the plant is shut down, and the attacked towers were not involved in the cooling process. Background radiation at the Zaporozhye nuke plant, in the adjacent city of Energodar and across the Zaporozhye Region remains within the norm.