MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. There is enough water in the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) reservoirs used to cool its reactors; the situation is under control, a spokesman for the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Tuesday.
"The water level in the reservoir supplying cooling water to the reactors is at a sufficient level and is being monitored. We are keeping a close eye on the situation," he said, adding that, according to reports coming from the ZNPP, there are no threats to its safety.
"The plant’s employees are in control of the situation," he pledged.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said earlier in the day that the water level in the ZNPP’s cooling water reservoir had dropped considerably following the collapse of the Kakhovka HPP dam. He noted however that there were no risks to the Zaporozhye facility’s safety.
Meanwhile, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the director general of Russia’s Rosenergoatom nuclear power engineering company, told Russia’s television Channel One that the ZNPP’s reactors are not cooled by water from the plant’s reservoirs, and have no connection to the Kakhovka water reservoir.
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). The gate valves of the plant’s dam collapsed as a result of the shelling, causing water to pour out uncontrollably.
As of now, the water level in Novaya Kakhovka has risen to above 12 meters. Fourteen settlements have been flooded and up to 80 are at risk of being inundated. People are being evacuated from neighboring settlements. However, according to local authorities, large-scale evacuations are not necessary.