Key Highlights :
Water from the river is used to help cool Europe’s largest nuclear power station, and when a major dam and hydroelectric power station in a part of southern Ukraine that Russia controls was recently destroyed, the risk of a massive flood was imminent, as well as an “ecological disaster”. Ukrainian authorities have ordered hundreds of thousands of residents downriver to evacuate, and the fallout could have broad consequences.
The dam, on the Dnipro river, was damaged by Ukrainian military strikes in the contested area, and the blow up of the dam could have negative consequences for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Twitter its experts are closely monitoring the situation at the power station upstream and there is “no immediate nuclear safety risk” at the facility.
A total collapse of the dam would wash away much of the left bank and a severe drop in the reservoir has the potential to deprive the nuclear power station of crucial cooling, as well as dry up the water supply in northern Crimea. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said a “global ecological disaster is playing out now, online, and thousands of animals and ecosystems will be destroyed in the next few hours”.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry urged residents of 10 villages on the river’s right bank and parts of the city of Kherson downriver to gather essential documents and pets, turn off appliances and leave – while cautioning against possible disinformation. The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontyev, said on Tuesday that numerous strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant destroyed its valves and “water from the Kakhovka reservoir began to uncontrollably flow downstream”. Mr Leontyev said the strikes were “a very serious terrorist act” and Moscow-appointed authorities are “preparing for the worst consequences”.
Ukraine controls five of the six dams along the Dnipro, which runs from its northern border with Belarus down to the Black Sea and is crucial for the entire country’s drinking water and power supply. Damage to the station is beyond repair and it will need to be rebuilt, according to Mr Leontyev.
The Ukrainian War Environmental Consequences Working Group, an organisation of environmental activists and experts documenting the war’s environment impact, has warned of the potential to deprive the nuclear power station of crucial cooling, as well as dry up the water supply in northern Crimea. Videos posted online began testifying to the spillover – one showed floodwaters inundating a long road, while another showed a beaver scurrying for high ground from rising waters.
Mr Zelensky called an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis, Ukrainian officials said. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Twitter its experts are closely monitoring the situation at the power station upstream and there is “no immediate nuclear safety risk” at the facility.
The destruction of the dam has put Europe’s largest nuclear power station at risk, as the water from the river is used to help cool the facility. The dam break adds a new complex to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, now in its 16th month, and the situation is “controllable” according to Energoatom.
The risk of an ecological disaster is high, as the dam was destroyed and the station cannot be restored, according to Ukrhydroenergo. Russia blew up the station from inside the engine room, it claimed. The Kakhovka reservoir, where water levels are “rapidly decreasing”, is necessary “for the plant to feed the turbine condensers and ZNPP safety systems”, the statement said.
The destruction of the dam and the risk of a massive flood has put the environment and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in danger. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry has urged residents to evacuate and the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is closely monitoring the situation at the power station upstream. The risk of an ecological disaster is high and the situation is “controllable”, but if the dam is not repaired, the water from the river will not be able to cool Europe’s largest nuclear power station and the consequences could be devastating.