The cooling tower at the occupied Zaporizhia NPP is unfit for use after it was damaged by a fire started by the occupiers of the Russian Federation. Because of this, it will probably be demolished in the future.
Points of attention
- The cooling tower at the occupied ZNPP is unfit for use after a fire started by the occupiers of the Russian Federation.
- International organizations carry out inspections and damage assessments and decide on the possibility of demolishing the structure.
- The provocation of the Russian Federation at the ZNPP and subsequent incidents pose a threat to national and international security.
- The Ukrainian side calls for response and support from international partners to prevent similar incidents in the future.
- It is necessary to take additional measures to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities in the territory under occupation and to reduce the risks of provocations and aggression.
The burnt cooling tower at the Zaporizhzhia NPP will have to be demolished
This was announced by the head of the UN nuclear agency, Raphael Grossi, during his fifth visit to the ZANP during the full-scale invasion of Russia.
Until today, we couldn't get to that point, high up in the tower, so we can get a much better estimate of the damage done. This large structure is unfit for future use, so it will probably be demolished at some point, Grossi said.
As I conclude my fifth visit to Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, @IAEAorg remains steadfast in our mission to help ensure nuclear safety and security in Europe’s largest nuclear facility amidst ongoing conflict. pic.twitter.com/QFZDcmpd43
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) September 4, 2024
Grossi also inspected a pumping station to supply water, which has been in short supply since last year's collapse of the Kakhovskaya dam in southern Ukraine. He also visited the nuclear fuel storage.
The Russian army set fire to the ZNPP
On August 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Russian occupiers had set a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. He called on the IAEA and the world community to respond to the incident.
At the same time, there were no changes in the radiation state in the Zaporizhzhya NPP area.
Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head of the Nikopol RVA, said that the ZNPP is working normally, and the Russians probably set fire to a large number of car tires in the cooling towers. Cooling tower number one is located approximately one kilometer from the power units of the station.
Instead, the Russian occupiers blamed Ukraine for the shelling of Energodar and declared that the radiation background around the ZNPP was normal.
Subsequently, IAEA experts conducted an inspection of the cooling tower after the fire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. However, they could not establish the cause of the fire.
On August 18, representatives of the IAEA reported that there was a drone strike at the occupied Zaporizhia NPP, which took place outside the station's security zone.
According to preliminary reports, the drone exploded near the cooling ponds, about 100 meters from the Dnipro transmission line, which is the only 750-kilovolt line that supplies power to the ZNPP.
An IAEA team that surveyed the incident site found damage likely caused by a drone explosion.
