The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), which caused the flood of the river Dnipro, is not likely to pose an additional safety threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the UK Defense Ministry said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2023) The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), which caused the flood of the river Dnipro, is not likely to pose an additional safety threat to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the UK Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which sits 120km (75 miles) away from the dam, is highly unlikely to face immediate additional safety issues as a result of the dropping water levels in the reservoir," the ministry tweeted.
However, the ministry said that the dam is expected to further crumble in the coming days, which will cause additional flooding.
The upper part of the Kakhovka HPP was destroyed overnight on Monday into Tuesday. The city authorities later confirmed that the structure of the dam was destroyed only partially, but it caused an uncontrollable outflow of water to towns downstream. Moscow and Kiev blamed each other for the incident. Authorities in some of the affected areas have started evacuating the population.
The Nova Kakhovka dam is the sixth and last stage of the cascade of Dnipro hydroelectric power plants located 5 kilometers from the city of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Region, which became part of Russia through a referendum in September 2022.
Located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, the Zaporizhzhia NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe by number of units and energy output. It went under the control of Russian forces in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled, raising international concerns over a possible nuclear accident. On October 5, the Zaporizhzhia NPP was placed under the control of Russian institutions in line with instructions by President Vladimir Putin.
