Security at three Russian nuclear power plants has “serious shortcomings” despite steps to improve security levels, Russia’s deputy prosecutor general, Vladimir Kolesnikov, said on October 28. “Following checks by the prosecutor, serious shortcomings were discovered in the protection of nuclear stations” at three sites in Russia, the state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Kolesnikov as saying. “Certain steps to modernize the security systems were taken, but the problems still persist,” he said, without specifying what those shortcomings were. The three nuclear stations he referred to – Kola, Novovoronezh and Smolensk – are located in regions of Russia bordering Finland, Ukraine and Belarus. Kolesnikov also said that security checks had also shown up flaws in protection of Russia’s huge network of oil pipelines, the report said. In early October, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said nuclear sites in Russia had adequate protection against terrorism following a string of spectacular attacks that rocked the country in August and September. Russian environmentalists have on numerous occasions warned authorities against the risk of attacks on nuclear sites in Russia and have called for them to be better protected.