The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that it will strengthen its presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station amid concerns over water supplies for cooling the facility’s reactors.

In an update on Wednesday then IAEA quoted director-general Rafael Grossi as saying: “The possible loss of the plant’s main source of cooling water further complicates an already extremely difficult and challenging nuclear safety and security situation”.

The agency said: “In view of the IAEA’s intensifying activities under the newly established principles, he [Grossi] will also strengthen the IAEA’s presence at the site, replacing the current team with a larger group travelling with him across the frontline.”

The update outlined threats to the water supply for ponds that feed cooling water to the station’s reactors following damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam, about 200 km downstream to the southwest of the nuclear station on the Dnieper river.