WASHINGTON, August 17. /TASS/. The Russian version of the fire at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant looks more plausible than the Ukrainian one, Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University Peter Kuznick told TASS commenting the fire at the nuclear plant. He recalled that Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for what happened: according to the Russian side, the cooling tower of the nuclear power plant was attacked by drones, while the Ukrainian side claimed that tires were set on fire. The expert believes none of the versions has provided definitive evidence, although "the former is more plausible than the latter."
The expert added that IAEA officials examined the damaged cooling tower on Monday but could not determine the cause of the fire.
The organization's statement dated August 13 says that neither the tires nor the drone were found during the inspection, and the next day, after the inspection, experts said that the main fire is unlikely to have started at the base of the cooling tower.
Danger of escalation
Kuznick noted that "there has been no increase in radiation around the plant" and "all six reactors have been shut down."
"The cooling tower is at a safe distance from the reactor and the spent fuel pools so the risk of radiation release is quite small at present. However, if shelling continues in the vicinity of the ZNPP, the danger of a serious, potentially catastrophic, accident will remain real. The longer the fighting continues, the greater the chances of a much more serious crisis than the present one, which seems to be under control," he concluded.
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. that same 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.