The reactor automatically shut down during a routine inspection, and there was no report on radiation leaks. Georgy Kaurov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Nuclear Energy (Minatom), said that this only means that the protection system is operating perfectly.

Reactor No. 2 was put into operation in 1974 and is one of the two oldest reactors of the VVER-440/230 type at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant.