After dam bursts, IAEA says Zaporizhzhia's cooling pond must be protected

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

VIENNA (Reuters) - The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant should have enough water to cool its reactors for "some months" from a pond located above the reservoir of a nearby dam that has broken, the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Tuesday, calling for the pond to be spared.

The major Soviet-era dam near the Russian-held nuclear plant in southern Ukraine was breached on Tuesday, unleashing floodwaters across the war zone in what both Ukraine and Russia said was an intentional attack by the other's forces.