ALMATY. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has not yet passed the critical stage, though no strikes on the facility have been recorded in recent weeks, Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev said.
"Unfortunately, the critical phase has not yet passed. The contact line between the forces is within touching distance of the nuclear power plant. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors are saying that, they are hearing explosions, they are hearing the gunfire," Likhachev told reporters.
However, "we have not recorded strikes on the nuclear power plant in recent weeks, though there have been attempts by drones to enter the Zaporozhye NPP territory," he said, adding that these attempts were thwarted by the security service.
"Despite this pressure, the staff are managing to maintain the vital functions and to ensure safety. On the whole, the station is not generating electricity currently for a number of reasons, but two units are in so-called hot shutdown," he said.
It means that these units are generating thermal power using electricity but without nuclear reactions, thus supplying heat to the city of Energodar, Likhachev said.
"We believe the heat supply situation in Energodar is acceptable, but of course, it is a temporary arrangement, if I may put it this way. It relies on the nuclear power plant and a large number of mobile boiler houses which we - the Russian Federation, Rosatom - have delivered to the station and to the city, as well as on the heroic efforts of the [nuclear power plant's] personnel," he said.
Likhachev said he is confident that Energodar will get through this difficult period and will restore the routine operations of Zaporozhye NPP.