One of the reactors at the Ukrainian Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), controlled by Russian forces, has been put into a “cold shutdown” after a water leak was detected in one of the generators, it was announced Thursday.
“The ZNPP will place unit ‘4’ in cold shutdown to determine the precise cause of the detected water leak and will perform maintenance to repair the affected steam generator,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement. .
Despite the incident, no radioactivity emission was detected, the UN agency added.
The IAEA, which has a team of inspectors at the nuclear power plant, also announced that the ‘6’ reactor will go into “hot shutdown” in the coming days, to produce steam, which is used for different safety operations, such as processing of liquid nuclear waste.
The body also defended today that the safest way for the nuclear power plant would be to install external steam generation equipment.
The IAEA also revealed that the main power line was disconnected today and the plant had to resort to a backup connection, without, however, having to resort to emergency generators, as has happened on several occasions in the past.
“The repeated cuts in the electrical connection reveal the continuing and precarious situation of security and nuclear protection of the plant”, stressed the general director of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi.
Inspections last week did not detect the presence of mines or explosives in new locations, but confirmed the existence of these devices in places already detected on July 23, the UN agency added.
In early July, Ukraine accused Moscow of preparing a provocation, and the Kiev Army claimed that on the roofs of reactors 3 and 4 “there were objects similar to explosive devices.”
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the IAEA has demanded that a security zone be created around the plant.
After falling into the hands of the Russian army on March 4, 2022, Europe’s largest power plant caught fire and suffered several power outages, a precarious situation that raises fears of a nuclear accident.
Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainian army has carried out offensive operations in the east and south to try to recapture territories held by Russian-speaking separatist militias and Russian forces, including in the Zaporizia region.
Source: TSF
