Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi at Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday and discussed safety of the nuclear plant here.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest such facility in Europe. The plant is currently occupied by Russian forces and has been target of Russian attacks since the beginning of the war. Tweeting about the meeting, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency Grossi said, “I met today @ZelenskyyUa in Zaporizhzhya City & had a rich exchange on the protection of the #Zaporizhzhya NPP and its staff. I reiterated the full support of the @IAEAorg to #Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.”
IAEA recently said the plant is in a precarious situation and advised both nations should come forward to set up safety zone around the plant. In a statement, IAEA said, “Despite our presence at the site for seven months now, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is still precarious. The nuclear safety and security dangers are all too obvious, as is the necessity to act now to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences to the health and the environment for people in Ukraine and beyond. I’m therefore continuing to work on a proposal to protect the plant.”
Ukraine's state-run hydropower agency on Tuesday raised concerns that the plant could face shortage of water to cool reactors during late summer since Russian forces have let water out of a reservoir that supplies the plant. Ihor Syrota, director general of the state-run
Ukrhydroenergo hydropower generating company said there was no immediate danger to the nuclear plant, however, he raised concerns about what would happen if water levels fell further at the Kakhovka reservoir on the River Dnipro, which supplies the plant.
"An issue (with lack of water for cooling) could arise in the summer, in late summer. I hope we don't get to that situation. I hope we de-occupy faster," Reuters quoted Syrota as saying.
