Kursk
Posted: 29th August 2024
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said Kursk’s nuclear plant reactor is “extremely exposed” to attack. It comes as Ukraine attempts to push into Russia’s Belgorod region, according to reports.
Sky News 28th Aug 2024
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-latest-invasion-kursk-putin-war-live-updates-12541713
Grossi told a news conference “the danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here”, adding that one of the factors increasing the risk of a “nuclear incident” was that the four RBMK-1000 reactors (two are permanently shut and one is currently in a regular scheduled shutdown) do not have an extra protective shell. According to Russia’s Tass news agency, Grossi also said: “I’ve had a possibility to visit it, to look at all the most important parts of the nuclear power plant: the reactor hall, the turbine hall, the control room, and every other essential part of the station, and the storage of the spent fuel as well.” It added that he had said that it was operating “very close to normal conditions”.
World Nuclear News 27th Aug 2024
https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-s-Grossi-visiting-Kursk-nuclear-power-plant
Reuters 27th Aug 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X2d0WrV670
Fears are mounting of a nuclear accident in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces began their incursion three weeks ago, after Vladimir Putin claimed a power plant came under fire. The United Nations’ nuclear has watchdog chief warned of heightened risk at the facility in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops control territory which is ‘the size of Los Angeles’. International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi, who inspected the site outside the town of Kurchatov, said the reactor is ‘extremely exposed’ to attack. He said the RBMK-type facility – the same model as Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant – is protected by ‘just a normal roof’.
Metro 27th Aug 2024