The Impressive TimesVienna, August 13,2024: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported late Monday that its experts visited the damaged cooling tower at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) but have yet to identify the cause of the fire that occurred on Sunday.
The incident has prompted a blame game between Russia and Ukraine, with Russia alleging a Ukrainian drone attack and Ukraine attributing the fire to possible Russian negligence or arson.
According to the IAEA’s statement, the experts observed that the fire’s origin was unlikely to be at the base of the cooling tower. Instead, damage appeared to be concentrated around the water nozzle distribution level, approximately 10 meters above the base, though access to this area was not granted.
The inspection team did not find any remains of tires or drones and noted no significant disruption to debris, ash, or soot at the tower’s base. The IAEA acknowledged that no definitive conclusions could be drawn from the current findings and indicated that further analysis would continue.
The agency assured that the nuclear safety of the ZNPP has not been compromised by the incident, as the cooling towers are not currently in operation. Additionally, no elevated radiation levels were detected in the vicinity of the plant’s cooling towers.
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