News
Publish date: January 22, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
The reactor no.2 at Kursk nuclear power plant, 450 km south of Moscow, was shut down automatically on January 14 because of leaks in the compressed air system, the Emergency Situations Ministry reported.
This is the reactor’s second shut down in the past six months. Similar incident occurred in the beginning of September 1997.
Kursk NPP is operating four RBMK-1000 reactors, commissioned in 1976, 1978, 1983 and 1985. The two oldest reactors are to be shut down by 2006 and 2008. The fifth unit with RBMK- type reactor is under construction, some 70% of completion.
Despite of the strong safety critics of RBMK-type (Chernobyl type) reactors, the Atomic Minister of Russia Victor Michailov claimed at his press-conference on June 23 that the fifth unit of Kursk NPP is to be completed within few years. Minister’s intentions were confirmed by Rosenergoatom concern, which has recently stated that the investment emphasis in 1998 will rest on the Rostov and Kursk Nuclear Power Plants.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.