Major dam collapses in southern Ukraine, flooding villages as Moscow and Kyiv trade blame

[Mary Wilson]

an hour ago
By VASILISA STEPANENKO and SUSIE BLANN


KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — A major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, flooding villages, endangering crops and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the warscrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction.

Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, which sits on the Dnieper River in an area Moscow has controlled for more than a year. Russian officials blamed Ukrainian bombardment in the contested area, where the river separates the two sides.

It was not possible to reconcile the conflicting claims.

Russian and Ukrainian officials used terms like “ecological disaster” and “terrorist act” to describe the torrent of water gushing through the broken dam and beginning to empty an upstream reservoir that is one of the world’s largest. ...

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...d-evacuation-eecc9952c2d9f500c38b0a873f69438c

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[Mary Wilson]

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Update 161 - IAEA Director General Statement on Ukraine
JUN 6 2023​

The water level in the reservoir that is supplying Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been falling throughout the day, but the facility has back-up options available and there is no short-term risk to nuclear safety and security, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

Director General Grossi, who addressed the IAEA Board of Governors earlier today on the evolving situation at Ukraine’s damaged Nova Kakhovka dam and its impact on the ZNPP, said the loss rate had been changing, from around five centimetres per hour in the morning to nine cm/hour later in the afternoon.

Between 10 am and 8 pm local time, the reservoir fell by a total of 83 cm to 15.44 metres, according to regular data received by the team of IAEA experts present at the ZNPP.

If and when the level goes below 12.7 metres, the ZNPP will no longer be able to pump water from the reservoir to replenish the reserves at the site. As the full extent of the damage to the dam is not yet known and the water loss rate is fluctuating, it is not possible to predict exactly when this might happen. If the current rate were to continue, however, this level could be reached in the next couple of days.

Even at that low level, the existing water in the ZNPP site’s sprinkler and cooling ponds as well as the adjacent channels can still be used for some time to cool the reactors and the spent fuel pools in the reactor buildings, which could otherwise be damaged, Director General Grossi said.

In addition, a large cooling pond next to the site – the ZNPP’s main alternative source of water in the absence of the reservoir – is currently full and has enough in storage to supply the plant for several months as its six reactors are in shutdown mode, Director General Grossi said, reiterating the vital necessity for it to stay intact.

Also if needed, the site can access a deep water-filled excavation in the ZNPP cargo port area, the water system of the nearby city of Enerhodar, and use mobile pumps and firefighter trucks to fetch water.

The IAEA team was informed by the plant that it has implemented measures to limit the consumption of water so that water is used only for essential nuclear-safety related activities such as the cooling of the reactors and the spent fuel pools.

Director General Grossi noted that Ukraine had carried out stress tests following the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, including the scenario of the Nova Kakhovka dam failing.

“There is a preparedness for events like this at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which will help staff to handle this new challenging situation. But, clearly, this is making an already very difficult and unpredictable nuclear safety and security situation even more so,” he said.

The Director General announced he will lead another IAEA rotation next week where he will assess the situation and address the current and planned measures with the plant management.

Also today, the IAEA team of experts at the Chornobyl site reported that a fire had broken out in the forest near the Paryshev village, in a zone currently unreachable from the Chornobyl side, as the bridge over the Pripyat river had been damaged and fire trucks cannot reach it. The IAEA team were informed that it was not assessed to be a major fire. There has been no increase in the radiation levels reported to the IAEA International Radiation Monitoring Information System (IRMIS) and the fire does not present any radiological risk to the population or staff working at the Chornobyl site.

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pre...tor-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

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[Mary Wilson]

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IAEA Director General Statement to the IAEA Board of Governors

JUN 6 2023​

Today the Nova Kakhovka dam was severely damaged leading to a significant reduction in the level of the reservoir used to supply cooling water to the ZNPP.

The water is required for the essential cooling water system which provides cooling (among other) to the following:

• residual heat removal from the reactors (spent or partially spent fuel there);
• residual heat removal from the spent fuel ponds; and
• cooling of the emergency diesel generators (when they are running).

Absence of cooling water in the essential cooling water systems for an extended period of time would cause fuel melt and inoperability of the emergency diesel generators.

However, our current assessment is that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant.

The IAEA staff on the site have been informed that the damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam is currently leading to about 5 cm/hour reduction in the height of the reservoir. The team continues to monitor this rate and all other matters on the site.

The main line of cooling water is fed from the reservoir and pumped up through channels near the thermal power plant to the site. It is estimated that the water through this route should last for a few days.

Water in the reservoir was at around 16.4 m at 8 am. If drops below 12.7 m then it can no longer be pumped.

ISAMZ reported that ZNPP is making all efforts to pump as much water into its cooling channels and related systems as possible. In addition, non-essential consumers of water are being stopped at ZNPP to reduce the consumption of water.

ZNPP management is discussing further measures to be implemented.

There are a number of alternative sources of water.

A main one is the large cooling pond next to the site that by design is kept above the height of the reservoir. As the reactors have been shut down for many months it is estimated that this pond will be sufficient to provide water for cooling for some months. The Agency will confirm this very shortly.

It is therefore vital that this cooling pond remains intact. Nothing must be done to potentially undermine its integrity.

I call on all sides to ensure nothing is done to undermine that.

My trip to ZNPP next week was planned and now it is essential. I will go.

I will keep the Board informed as developments unfold.

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pre...eral-statement-to-the-iaea-board-of-governors

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[Mary Wilson]

Global wheat prices jump following escalated war in Ukraine

Published June 6, 2023 2:49 p.m. CDT​
Courtney Bonnell And Wyatte Grantham-philips
The Associated Press
Staff​

WASHINGTON - Global prices for wheat and corn soared Tuesday after a major dam in Ukraine collapsed, renewing market fears about the fragility of the country's ability to ship food to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia as it fights a war with Russia.

Wheat prices gained 2.4% in early trading Tuesday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to US $6.39 a bushel. The cost of corn rose more than 1%, to US $6.04 a bushel, and oats gained 0.73%, to US $3.46 per unit. Prices were higher earlier in the day but faded.

The destruction of the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station, which sits in a Russian-controlled area on the Dnieper River, raised concerns about disruption to Ukraine's affordable supplies of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil getting to developing nations where people are struggling with hunger and high food prices.

"Anytime this war shows signs of getting further escalated, there's a lot of concern," said Joseph Glauber, senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. "Markets react to that." ...

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/whe...tent&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
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[Mary Wilson]

Kherson Kakhovka Dam Latest: 7 Things You Need to Know About the Disaster

June 6, 2023, 5:52 pm
by Kyiv Post​

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, an the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine’s Kherson region collapsed, sparking an international blame game, mass evacuations and an unfolding ecological disaster.

Here are the seven critical things you need to know: ...

​https://www.kyivpost.com/post/17955

 

[Emily]

They cited Ukrainian Major-General Andriy Kovalchuk who said the test was a success, but the step remained a last resort. I think the dam destruction was the last resort in trying to keep the port of Odesa in Ukraine's hands.

WaPo reported Ukraine conducted a test strike with HIMARS on the Kahovka dam last year​
https://humanevents.com/2023/06/06/...rike-with-himars-on-the-kahovka-dam-last-year


Toxic Flood from Dam Breach Having Largest Impact on Russian-held Territory​
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/othe...-impact-on-russian-held-territory/ar-AA1cfGHT

 

[Mary Wilson]

Update 165 - IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

​JUN 11 2023​
Vienna, Austria

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) need access to a location near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to clarify the reason for a significant discrepancy between different measurements of the height of the reservoir that is supplying water to cool the facility’s six reactors and spent fuel storage, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

The level of the Kakhovka reservoir has been dropping rapidly since the downstream dam was severely damaged five days ago, but the ZNPP reported over the weekend that it had been stable for about a day as measured at the inlet of the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) where water is pumped into a channel for use at the nearby nuclear power plant.

By 9am local time today, the water level by the ZTPP was estimated at 11.27 metres, down from nearly 17 metres before the dam was breached, according to data received by the IAEA experts at the ZNPP site.

However, the height is reportedly continuing to fall elsewhere in the huge reservoir, causing a possible difference of about two metres compared with the level reported by the ZTPP. The height of the water level is a key parameter for the continued operability of the water pumps.

“It is possible that this discrepancy in the measured levels is caused by an isolated body of water separated from the larger body of the reservoir. But we will only be able to know when we gain access to the thermal power plant,” Director General Grossi said.

At the current height of the reservoir by the ZTPP, the water pumps continue to be operable. At the moment, however, they are not continuously being operated as both the ZTPP channel and the large cooling pond near the ZNPP are full, holding sufficient water reserves for several months of cooling requirements.

The ZNPP cooling pond and the ZTPP discharge channel are both integral to continuing to supply cooling water and the Director General stressed again that maintaining their integrity is vital for the safety of the plant.

“The thermal power plant plays a key role for the safety and security of the nuclear power plant a few kilometres away. I fully expect that our experts will be able to go there very soon to independently assess the situation. I will also personally raise this important matter with the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant,” he added.

The Director General – who will travel to Kyiv and the ZNPP next week – reiterated that the IAEA also requires access to the electrical switchyard of the ZTPP.

The ZTPP switchyard has in the past been used to provide back-up power to the ZNPP, but its last 330 kV line is still not available after being disconnected more than three months ago. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant now relies entirely on its sole remaining 750 kV power line for off-site electricity, which has been cut repeatedly since the military conflict began in February 2022.

Even though the ZNPP has not been producing electricity for several months now, it still needs access to water and power for cooling and other essential safety and security functions and to avoid the risk of a potential fuel meltdown and release of radioactive material.

At the ZNPP itself, five reactors are in cold shutdown, while the sixth – unit 5 – remains in hot shutdown to produce steam to support processes that contribute to safety on the site. The plant is considering the possibility of installing an independent steam boiler that would allow also unit 5 to be put in cold shutdown while still meeting the need for steam supply to the site.
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https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pre...tor-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraine

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[Mary Wilson]

Russia puts flooded town of Hola Prystan under Quarantine, preventing evacuations

June 11, 2023 10:19 PM​
by Natalia Datskevych

Russian forces announced a quarantine in the town of Hola Prystan in the Kherson Oblast, which suffers unprecedented flooding Russia blew up the Kakhovka dam up the Dnipro River, the local media reported on June 11.

Currently, the water level in the Russian-occupied town is falling, but still reaches up to 2 meters in some areas, according to the head of the city’s Military Administration Svitlana Linnyk.

“The city is blocked. The Russians closed all entrances and exits,” said Linnyk.

As a result, volunteers are not able to transfer humanitarian aid to local residents.

“I don’t yet know whether the delivery of drinking water and food will be organized,” she added. ...

Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported that as of June 11, 112 people, including 54 women and 7 children, were evacuated from the Russian-occupied left bank of the Oblast.​

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-...a-prystan-in-kherson-oblast-under-quarantine/

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Governor: Russia attack on evacuation boat kills 3, injures 10 in Kherson Oblast

June 11, 2023 7:12 PM
by Alexander Khrebet

Russian forces have attacked an evacuation boat in a flooded area in Kherson Oblast, killing three and injuring eight civilians and two law enforcement officers, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on June 11.

According to Prokudin, the people were being evacuated from the Russian-occupied east bank back the Ukrainian controlled side of the Dnipro River when the attack occurred. ...

​https://kyivindependent.com/governo...on-boat-kills-3-injured-10-in-kherson-oblast/

 

[Mary Wilson]

Official: Russia blows up small dam in area near counteroffensive operations in Donetsk Oblast

June 11, 2023 8:53 PM
by Natalia Datskevych

Valeriy Shershen, spokesperson for Ukraine Tavria military sector, said in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda news outlet on June 11 that the Russian military had blown up a dam on the Mokri Yaly River in the Donetsk Oblast, causing flooding on both banks.

According to Shershen, this was done in an attempt to slow down Ukraine's counteroffensive. ...

At first, the occupiers blew up the Karlov (water) reservoir, then the Kakhovka dam, then they blew up other hydraulic structures in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, he said. ...

https://kyivindependent.com/officia...last-causing-flooding-on-both-banks-of-river/
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[Mary Wilson]

Official: Russia blows up small dam in area near counteroffensive Donetsk Oblast

June 11, 2023 8:53 PM​

by Natalia Datskevych

Valeriy Shershen, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Tavria military sector, said in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda news outlet on June 11 that the Russian military had blown up a dam on the Mokri Yaly River in the Donetsk Oblast, causing flooding on both banks.

According to Shershen, this was done in an attempt to “slow down Ukraine's counteroffensive. ...

“At first, the occupiers blew up the Karlov (water) reservoir, then the Kakhovka dam, then they blew up other hydraulic structures in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast,” he said. “They expect a breakthrough of our defense forces, therefore, in order to slow down our advance, they use this tactic.” ...

https://kyivindependent.com/officia...last-causing-flooding-on-both-banks-of-river/
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