IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and said there was a risk of a nuclear accident. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to Reuters.
“The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has arisen here,” Grossi told reporters, referring to the fact that military operations are taking place in the neighbouring Kursk region.
At the same time, Grossi said that the Kursk nuclear power plant is “extremely fragile” without a protective dome.
Russia’s state nuclear company Rosenergoatom said that Grossi was able to see that the plant’s No. 3 reactor was operating at its planned capacity and that the fourth reactor had been undergoing scheduled maintenance since Sunday. He was also shown a new reactor unit under construction.
The Kursk plant is one of the four largest nuclear power plants in Russia. The Kursk NPP accounts for more than half of the installed capacity of all power plants in five regions (Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh, Lipetsk, and Tambov).
The plant has four power units in total, but only units 3 and 4 with a total capacity of 2,000 MW are in generation mode.
If Russia loses control over the Kursk nuclear power plant, a large-scale blackout could occur.
The plant is located about 80-90 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. The distance depends on the roads to get there.
At present, the Ukrainian military has advanced about 35 km deep into Russian territory in the Kursk region and is about 50 km away from the plant.
Earlier, it was reported that the Russian occupiers may be preparing a nuclear provocation at the Kursk or Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants to blame Ukraine for it.
TheArmed Forces of Ukraine are advancing in the Kursk region, and a fire breaks out at the Zaporizhzhia NPP: are these events related and what to expect next?