A suspected Ukrainian drone has been brought down over Russia’s Kursk NPP, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein reported. It fell on the construction site of the Kursk-II plant, which will replace the currently operating Kursk NPP comprising four ageing RBMK reactors (two of which are now closed) with four new units with VVER-TOI reactors. Units 1&2 are already under construction.
According to Russian nuclear utility Rosenergoatom: “When the UAV crashed, it hit one of the auxiliary buildings at the replacement station. As a result of the attack, the walls were damaged. There were no injuries or casualties.” The attack had no impact on the operations of the facilities or the construction schedule for the new power units. It clarified that the nuclear power plant is operating normally, and the radiation background in the area is within normal limits.
Kursk NPP previously came under drone attack in August. After it was shot down by Russian air defence, it crashed and detonated, setting fire to an on-site transformer. The ageing RBMK reactors at Kursk are especially vulnerable to attack as they do not have the strong containment protection of the newer VVER reactors.
