Kursk, risk of nuclear accident

Brussels – The Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region could jeopardize the security of the Kurchatov nuclear power plant. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations body dealing with nuclear power, is raising the alarm. The front line is only 40 kilometres away, but the advance of Kyiv troops continues, increasing concerns about a possible incident with unpredictable outcomes.

The offensive launched by Ukraine last August 6 has brought the war within Russia’s borders and dangerously close to the plant. “The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has clearly emerged,” Grossi told the press on Tuesday (August 27), given that clashes between rival armies are taking place mainly in the Kursk region itself.

The Kremlin has reported several Ukrainian attacks on the plant, which, as Grossi pointed out, is particularly fragile because it lacks a protective dome. The fact that the plant continues to operate under “almost normal” conditions, the IAEA secretary added, makes the situation even more delicate. The nuclear plant in Kursk oblast is one of the most important in the entire Federation and has been in operation since 1976. Only one of the four reactors (built between 1976 and 1985 according to the same model as those at Chornobyl), number three, is operational, while number four has been under maintenance since Sunday (August 25). Construction of two more reactors began in 2018.

The security of atomic facilities has become a central issue in Ukraine’s war, especially in the latest “hot” phase initiated by the Russian invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant near Enerhodar is the largest in the country—and the entire Old Continent—and it fell into Russian hands two years ago in March. Since then, Moscow and Kyiv have never stopped blaming each other for the attacks endangering its facilities.