Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Moreno Grossi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the situation after the Dnipro River dam which cooled the reactors of the atomic powerplant bursted.
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe faces 바카라a relatively dangerous situation바카라 after a dam burst in Ukraine and Kyiv launches a counteroffensive to retake ground occupied by Russia, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tuesday.
Rafael Moreno Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke to journalists in Kyiv just before leaving on a trip to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
That plant has been repeatedly in the crossfire since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 and seized the facility shortly after.
Grossi said he had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the situation affecting the plant, which grew more serious after the Kakhovka Dam burst last week.
The dam, further down the Dnieper River, helped keep water in a reservoir that cools the plant's reactors.
Ukraine has said Russia blew up the dam, something denied by Moscow, though analysts say the flood likely disrupted Kyiv's counteroffensive plans.
Grossi said the level of the reservoir that feeds the plant is dropping 바카라quite steadily바카라 but that it didn't represent an 바카라immediate danger.바카라
바카라It is a serious situation because you are limited to the water you have there,바카라 Grossi said.
바카라If there was a break in the gates that contain this water or anything like this, you would really lose all your cooling capacity.바카라
Ukraine recently said it hoped to put the last functioning reactor into a cold shutdown.
That's a process in which all control rods are inserted into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure. Already, five of the plant's six reactors are in a cold shutdown.
When asked about Ukraine's plans, Grossi noted that Russia controlled the plant and that it represented 바카라yet again, another unwanted situation deriving from this anomalous situation.바카라
Ukrainian workers still run the plant, though under an armed Russian military presence.
The IAEA has a team at the plant, and Grossi said its members would be swapped out during his trip.
Asked about the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Grossi said he was 바카라very concerned바카라 about the plant potentially getting caught again in open warfare.
바카라There is active combat. So we are worrying that there could be, I mean, obviously mathematically, the possibilities of a hit,바카라 he said.
Grossi stressed the IAEA hadn't yet 바카라seen any heavy military equipment바카라 from the Russians at the plant when asked about Ukrainian fears the plant could be wired with explosives.
바카라There shouldn't be any military equipment or artillery or amounts of ammunition, an amount that could compromise the security of the plant," Grossi said.
"We do not have any indication at this point. But it could not be excluded.바카라