Russian reactors experienced 9 unplanned shutdowns in July

Two cases when automatic safety shutdown system was triggered should be investigated at the nuclear power plants according to the Russian regulations. On July 3, 2004, reactor no.2 at the Kursk NPP was stopped by the operator due to a major leakage in the gas coolant of the TG-3 turbo generator. On July 17, 2004, turbo generator of reactor no.4 at the Kola NPP was taken off the grid by the automatic shutdown system after the high-voltage power line VL-393 was switched off. Radiation levels reportedly remained normal. The Russian research reactors’ shutdown systems were triggered seven times in July.