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Ukraine says nuclear risk 'growing rapidly' after dam damage
"The world once again finds itself on the brink of a nuclear disaster, because the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its source of cooling. And this danger is now growing rapidly," Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.
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This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar technologies shows a closer view of a destroyed roadway and section of the Nova Khakovka dam in south Ukraine, on June 5, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will urgently convene his Security Council on June 6, 2023 after an explosion at the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in the south of the country, a top adviser said.
(AFP/Maxar)
K
yiv said Tuesday the danger of a nuclear disaster was increasing after a dam around 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the Zaporizhzhia power plant was damaged, though Russia denied any major risk.
"The world once again finds itself on the brink of a nuclear disaster, because the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost its source of cooling. And this danger is now growing rapidly," Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.
Separately, the UN's nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that it saw "no immediate nuclear safety risk" at Europe's biggest atomic plant after a hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine was damaged.
"The IAEA is aware of reports of damage at Ukraine's Kakhovka dam; IAEA experts at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant are closely monitoring the situation; no immediate nuclear safety risk at plant," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a tweet.
The dam sits on the Dnipro river, which provides cooling water for the plant.
The water level at the town immediately adjacent to the breached Kakhovka dam could rise by up to 12 metres, its Russia-installed mayor, Vladimir Leontyev, said on Tuesday in a statement posted on Telegram.
Authorities said the water level in the town was expected to rise for the next 72 hours.
