![Illustration from Akkuyu Nuclear communications service photo by Bellona](https://network.bellona.org/content/uploads/sites/3/2024/07/2024-05-2000_1400.jpg)
Bellona nuclear digest. May 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
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.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
But it’s unlikely to impact emissions from shipping along the Northern Sea Route.
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.
The following op-ed, written by Bellona’s Charles Digges, originally appeared in The Moscow Times. In recent months, the Russian nuclear in...