MOSCOW, August 8 The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that intense fires near the Zaporizhzhya NPP caused by the summer heat, as well as the risk of shelling, create new challenges for the plant.
«The outbreak of intense fires near the Zaporizhzhya NPP… continues to add to the challenges facing Europe's largest nuclear power plant, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today,» the IAEA said in a statement published on its website.
Grossi also said that on Sunday, plant employees were unable to go outside for some time to start the pump that pumps water from the inlet channel to the discharge channel due to the risk of shelling.
The statement noted that the IAEA had recorded fires near the Zaporizhzhya NPP several times over the past week, and a fire was observed north of the plant over the weekend.
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«The external power supply to Zaporizhzhya NPP remains vulnerable, and any threat to the operability of the last two power lines is extremely alarming… Despite the fact that all reactors remain in a state of «cold shutdown», the reliability of the external power supply still poses a serious risk to the nuclear safety of Zaporizhzhya NPP, measures must be taken to protect these remaining lines,» Grossi is quoted as saying.
ZNPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the city of Energodar. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity — the station has six power units with a capacity of 1 gigawatt each. In October 2022, the nuclear power plant became the property of the Russian Federation.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated, the West does not say that the Zaporizhzhya NPP is being shelled by the Ukrainians, but they are whipping up excitement, blaming Russia for everything. He added that Kyiv talks about its desire to possess nuclear weapons, while constantly stating that the Zaporizhzhya NPP is allegedly being shelled by the Russian Federation.