News
Publish date: March 27, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
On March 13, the second reactor unit of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) suffered an emergency shut down due to a leak in the cooling system. The repair works are still under way. The radiation levels are reported to be normal.
Information about the incident was made public by the NPP’s administration only on March 20 in the local newspaper Vestnik Leningradskoy AES.
Leningrad NPP is operating four RBMK-1000 reactors. The second reactor unit was commissioned in 1975. In 1991, the reconstruction on unit no.2 was launched. The work was finished in 1995. The management is confident that upon completion of all the safety upgrade works on the two oldest units, they will be able to continue operations for 10-15 years beyond their original service life, which expires in the year 2003.
An accident aboard numerous Volgoneft oil tankers in the Kerch in mid December clearly show what can happen to aged ships when they are operated in bad weather—and when economic and military objectives are prioritized over the lives of crews and environmental safety.
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.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
A visit last week by Vladimir Putin and a Kremlin entourage to Astana, Kazakhstan sought in part to put Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, on good footing with local officials.