Russian occupiers cause environmental disaster at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

OLEKSII PAVLYSH – MONDAY, 31 OCTOBER 2022, 12:09

Energoatom [Ukraine’s state company that runs all nuclear power plants in this country] has stated that the illegal activity of the Russian occupiers at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is causing an environmental disaster. They are destroying an important environmental component of the plant’s operation.

Source: Energoatom

As a result of the shutdown of the plant's power units, warm water is not entering the ZNPP cooling pond, resulting in the water temperature dropping to about +13°C.

"This led to the mass deaths of fish in the pond. It is stocked with two species of fish, tilapia and Asian catfish, which were brought in about 25 years ago in order to help keep the environment clean. The fish help keep the water clean by destroying green algae and ensuring the cleanliness of cooling tubes of the turbine condenser.

Under favourable conditions, when the temperature in winter never dropped below +18°C, the fish multiplied. So if the water temperature in the cooling pond does not rise as soon as possible, about 1000 tonnes of dead fish will be thrown ashore," the company warns.

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