Kakhovka HPP destruction not posing immediate threat to Zaporozhye NPP - IAEA's Grossi

BRUSSELS. June 6 (Interfax) - The destruction of the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant (HPP) in the Kherson region is not posing an immediate risk to the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday.

"Absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators. However, our current assessment is that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant," Grossi said in a statement on Tuesday.

The damage caused to the Kakhovka HPP would cause the water levels in the reservoirs used for cooling the ZNPP systems to drop, Grossi said. Currently, according to IAEA specialists, the water level is decreasing at a rate of 5 centimeters an hour, but water could still keep coming from the principal source for another several days, he said.

The ZNPP personnel are making efforts to pump as much water into the plant's cooling channels and related systems as possible, although there are also alternative sources of water supply, he said.

"My trip to ZNPP next week was planned and now it is essential. I will go," he said.