ZNPP cooling pond has slight decrease in water level, but situation is stable

Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power state enterprise, shared the information.

"Despite the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP dam by the Russian occupiers, the situation remains stable and under control. As of 06:00 am on July 3, a slight decrease in the water level in the cooling pond was recorded. It is currently 16.56 meters," the statement said.

The water level in the TPP canal, which serves as a source for feeding the ZNPP pond if needed, is currently at 11.15 meters. It is worth noting that the water level in the canal has remained stable and has not shown significant declines recently. Additionally, the canal's water levels are no longer dependent on the Kakhovka Reservoir.

Energoatom reminds that ZNPP power units have been out of operation since September 2022, so since then there has been no active evaporation of water from the cooling pond.

Situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Russians occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, there has been a constant presence of personnel and military equipment, which the invaders store in machine rooms and occasionally deploy to positions for shelling the territories of the Nikopol district in the Dnipropetrovsk region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a monitoring mission at the station, which is supposed to ensure that the nuclear power plant is not used as a military base, that it is not attacked, and that no fire is initiated from the NPP. Power outages at the nuclear power plant occur regularly though. Occupiers began importing explosives to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant last year.

It became known in May 2023 that the Russians had placed explosives in the turbine room of the  ZNPP’s fourth power unit. Additionally, the invaders have nearly completely destroyed the emergency readiness and response system at the nuclear power plant.

On June 22, the Director-General of the IAEA, after visiting ZNPP Grossi, stated that the situation at the plant is extremely unstable. On the same day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that intelligence had received information that Russia was considering a scenario for a terrorist act at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which would cause a radiation release.

The Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that Russia has completed preparations for a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

On June 29, large-scale exercises were held in four regions of Ukraine to prepare for a possible terrorist attack on the ZNPP.

On June 30, the Main Intelligence Directorate reported that the occupying Russian forces were gradually leaving the ZNPP, and that Ukrainian employees who had signed a contract with Rosatom also received evacuation recommendations. In addition, the plant's staff received an order to blame Ukraine in any emergency situation.

The head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Russian troops have prepared everything for a man-made disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.