MELITOPOL, August 12. /TASS/. Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have visited the cooling tower of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) that was attacked by Ukrainian kamikaze drones, the plant's spokeswoman Yevgeniya Yashina told TASS.
"IAEA experts visited the site of the Ukrainian drone strike and the Zaporozhye NPP cooling tower fire. The inspectors were familiarized with the consequences of the strikes and the subsequent fire," she said.
Earlier, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev called on the IAEA to name the party responsible for the attack on the ZNPP. At the same time, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, without identifying the party responsible for the attack, emphasized that such actions jeopardize nuclear safety at the plant, increase the risk of a nuclear accident and should be stopped. IAEA experts had earlier requested access to the attacked cooling tower to assess the damage. The agency said the plant's two cooling towers are outside its perimeter and an attack on them would not directly affect the ZNPP's six units. IAEA experts also noted that the radiation background at the plant remained normal.
Earlier, it was reported that the Ukrainian armed forces had used a kamikaze drone to hit the ZNPP's cooling systems. According to the plant's management, a fire broke out in the area of the cooling towers as a result of the shelling. The fire was later extinguished; it did not affect the operation of the NPP, as all six power units are in cold shutdown mode.