Zaporizhzhia NPP's 5th power unit in cold shutdown and 4th in hot shutdown modes – IAEA

The staff of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has completed the planned switch of the 5th power unit to the cold shutdown mode, simultaneously switching the 4th power unit to a hot shutdown mode.

Source: Raphael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, reports the organization's website

Details: It is noted that the change in the status of the reactor was carried out in order to conduct maintenance works on the power unit No. 5, which is possible only in the "cold shutdown" mode.

Unit No. 5 was switched to the cold shutdown mode on Friday morning, three days after Unit No. 4 was switched to the hot mode. The steam from the No.4 power unit is now being used to clean wastewater at the ZNPP. The rest of the power units remain in a cold state.

The IAEA experts, who are at the site, call on the ZNNP administration to study all possible options for installing an external boiler for the production of the necessary steam, which would allow all power units to be put into a "cold shutdown" state.

The IAEA reminded that the Ukrainian national regulator, Derzhatomrehuliuvannia, has issued normative orders limiting the operation of all six power units to the state of "cold shutdown".

Quote: "Yesterday, the IAEA team visited reactor unit 5 where they observed the reactor vessel, spent fuel pool and the steam generator. The team noted that all equipment seemed to be in normal condition. There were no restrictions during the visit and the team did not observe any mines or explosives.

However, during a walkdown within the site’s perimeter on Thursday, the team confirmed that the mines that they observed on 23 July were still in place. The IAEA is also continuing to request access to the roofs of the ZNPP’s reactors and their turbine halls."

More details: The IAEA team is said to have heard isolated detonations over the past few days, some at a distance from the station and some apparently closer.

The IAEA emphasises that its experts at the ZNPP continue to closely monitor the situation regarding the availability of water for cooling the six reactors of the ZNPP and other important nuclear and physical nuclear safety functions following the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam in early June and the subsequent depletion of a huge reservoir near the plant.

"The IAEA team reported that the available water supply remains relatively stable, with the water level in the site’s large cooling pond decreasing by around 1 centimetre per day due to usage and evaporation. Submersible pumps have been periodically used to pump water from the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) inlet channel to the ZTPP discharge channel. The combination of the pumping and heavy rain experienced during the week has seen the height of the ZTPP discharge channel increase by around 25 centimetres. The site continues to have sufficient water for some months," the statement said.

The organisation also notes that one of the radiation monitoring stations outside the facility, which was damaged by past fighting, was restored earlier this week and is back in operation.

"However, the online data transmission to the SNRIU is still not working. As an interim measure, the data from the off-site radiation monitoring stations is manually provided to the IAEA team, which also regularly conducts independent radiation monitoring at the site. The off-site data and the team’s own measurements are uploaded by the IAEA to the IAEA’s International Radiation Monitoring Information System (IRMIS)," the message reads.

Background: On 24 July, Energoatom reported that the Russian occupiers switched the ZNPP's 4th power unit of the plant into the "hot shutdown" mode, which creates risks in nuclear and radiation safety.

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