Water leak occurs at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

The reactor of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP)’s Unit 4 is being put into cold shutdown mode after a water leak, but there is no danger to the environment, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on August 10.

"The ZNPP will place unit 4 into cold shutdown to determine the precise cause of the water leak that has been detected," the organization said in a statement. "There was no radiological release to the environment," TASS reports.

At the same time, the ZNPP will move Unit 6 to hot shutdown to produce the steam that the plant needs.

Earlier, the nuclear power plant said on its Telegram channel that a leak had been detected in the piping of a steam generator in Unit 4. A decision to put the reactor in cold shutdown has been made, in order to ensure that all systems work reliably in the run-up to the upcoming cold season and to maintain the equipment in good condition.

A cold shutdown implies that a reactor does not produce a measurable amount of electricity or heat. A reactor in hot shutdown mode continues to generate heat, but not electricity.