Water Shortage in Ukraine: Critical Reservoir Level Endangers Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Ponds

The water level in the reservoir has fallen below the critical 12.7 meter mark, the official said.

This means that the reservoir will no longer be able to provide water to the “Zaporizhya NPP ponds for power plant cooling,” Sirota explained on Ukrainian television.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said this week that it would be impossible to pump water if the level fell below the 12.7 meter mark.

Cooling ponds at NPPs and elsewhere can be used for some time to cool reactors and spent fuel tanks in reactor buildings, Grossi said.

In addition, a large cooling pond next to the facility “is currently full and stocked enough to power the plant for several months as its six reactors are in shutdown mode,” Grossi said.

It is therefore vital that the cooling pond remains undamaged. I call on all parties to ensure that this is not jeopardized when meeting with the IAEA board, said Grossi.

CONTEXT:

On the night of June 6, the dam of the Kahovka hydroelectric power plant (HEP) on the Dnieper River collapsed in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. As a result, a huge amount of water was released from the HPP reservoir, which flooded dozens of settlements.

The Ukrainian government says that the Kahovka HPP dam was blown up by Russian troops who controlled the strategically important facility. Ukraine emphasizes that the incident is considered a war crime committed by a terrorist state. Leaders of Western countries also agree with Ukraine, while the ruling regime in Russia has denied any connection with the destruction of the Kahovka HPP.

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