Damage to the bridge connecting the dam and the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, last year
Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the energy engineering company Rosenergoatom, said experts have begun releasing water from the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, TASS news agency reported on May 5.
“As we expected, a technical solution to the problem has been found,” Karchaa told TASS, citing local officials in Kherson province, where the dam and hydropower plant are located.
"A gate of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station has been opened and repair work has begun at the Kakhovka canal. Pumps and pipes are being repaired. Water is being released. The risk of flooding has significantly decreased," he said.
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The risk will be eliminated once water levels return to normal, Mr. Karchaa said.
He previously told TASS that a dam failure due to high water levels could flood the cables of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant further east and pose a nuclear safety risk. Nearby towns could also be affected.
Russian troops seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, when they took control of parts of Ukraine last year. It is at the heart of a nuclear security crisis over frequent shelling that Kyiv and Moscow blame on each other.
Last November, after Russian forces withdrew from the nearby city of Kherson, satellite images showed significant damage to the dam.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of planning to blow up the dam using explosives, which, if carried out, would flood much of the downstream area and potentially cause devastation around Kherson.
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Mr Karchaa’s comments contrast with warnings issued by Ukrainian officials in March, when they expressed concern that the Zaporizhzhia plant could run out of water to cool its reactors in the summer after Russian forces released water from the reservoir that supplies the plant.
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