Kursk NPP staff prepares to stop plant if Ukrainian troops enter

There is a popular belief among Russians that the Ukrainian side allegedly intends to "get to the NPP in Kurchatov and exchange it for the Zaporizhzhia NPP."

Residents of Kurchatov and employees of the nuclear power plant also say this.

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"The operational staff is ready. That is, if they do enter the territory, they will immediately stop the operating units. This is one of the possible options," a source familiar with the situation told Russian media 7x7.

According to him, if the plant has to be shut down, electricity will be supplied to Kurchatov residents from the main reserve fund. Currently, according to the source, the military is guarding the plant, and construction of NPP-2 has been suspended until mid-August.

On August 9, Kurchatov was left without electricity. Acting Governor Alexei Smirnov said that the reason was a drone strike on a transformer substation.

How the city lives

Yesterday, on August 9, Kurchatov was under a missile alert several times, and Telegram channels reported explosions. According to local residents, the city was not often shelled before the Ukrainian army broke through the border. Now there are much fewer people on the streets than before. Military vehicles and tanks are driving around Kurchatov.

According to a resident who is familiar with the situation and asked for anonymity, wounded soldiers are allegedly being brought to the local hospital.

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"If they (Ukrainians - ed.) are in Lgov, then God only knows what will happen next. Lgov is nearby, literally 20-30 km away. As everyone says, if they come to Lgov, there will be little chance of defending Kurchatov. It's even doubtful. How can we expect a 'victory', what kind of equipment can we talk about, if our hospital does not have water, clothes and basic necessities, even valves for drips and pain relief," a resident of Kurchatov, a satellite city of the Kursk NPP, complains.

There were also strong explosions in Lgov on August 9. The entry to the city is blocked, but trains still run there.

Consequences of the Kursk NPP shutdown

The Kursk NPP accounts for more than half of the installed capacity of all power plants in Russia's five regions (Belgorod, Kursk, Voronezh, Lipetsk, and Tambov).

The plant is one of the three largest nuclear power plants in Russia. The plant has four power units in total, but only units 3 and 4 with a total capacity of 2,000 MW are in generation mode.

If Russia loses control over the Kursk NPP, a large-scale blackout could occur, said Andrei Ozharovsky, a Russian physics engineer.

"If those who gain control over it somehow stop the generation of electricity, it is quite possible that the situation that occurred during the emergency shutdown of one of the reactors at the Rostov nuclear power plant, when there was a large-scale blackout, and millions of people (in the south of Russia - ed.) were left without electricity," RTVi quoted him as saying.

The power system as a whole can be restored by introducing a reserve and by means of a network maneuver, i.e. transferring electricity from other regions, Ozharovsky believes. But this, he said, will take time.

"Plus, we need to take into account that the nuclear power plant is not yet under threat, but the Russian power system in southern Russia is quite seriously damaged. And this may complicate the situation," Ozharovsky summarized.

• As of August 10, 2024, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Kursk region claims to have evacuated 76,000 people from the war zone.