The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on 7 October reportedly attempted an attack on the Novovoronezh NPP. The drone was neutralised by electronic warfare (EW) equipment. According to Russian nuclear utility Rosenergoatom, the drone struck the evaporative cooling tower of the operating unit 6 and exploded. The incident did not affect the operation of the plant and background radiation remained within normal limits. “There is no damages or injuries, but there is a dark mark on the cooling tower from the aftermath of the detonation,” Rosenergoatom noted.
Law enforcement agencies are working on the site. Rosenergoatom described the incident as “another act of aggression by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against Russian NPPs,” recalling that attempts had previously been made to strike the Kursk and Smolensk nuclear power plants.
Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, later showed a photo of the aftermath of the explosion. The photo shows no visible damage to the structure, but there is soot at the site of the drone’s detonation.
Alexander Uvarov, a nuclear power specialist and head of the Atominfo Centre, explained that the heat generated in a nuclear reactor must be transferred to a turbine. However, the turbine does not use all of the heat and the remaining heat must be released into the atmosphere. One of the structures designed for this purpose is a cooling tower.
“All incidents at nuclear power plants can be compared to crossing a street at a red light. In other words, you get lucky once, you get lucky twice, but at some point you may not get lucky. Attacks on nuclear power plants are unacceptable, and we can definitely call them nuclear terrorism,” Uvarov said.
The Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant was one of the first industrial NPPs in the Soviet Union. It has been operating since 1964 and comprises seven units, three of which are closed awaiting decommissioning. The four operating units (4-7) have a total capacity of 3778 MWe. By 2040, it is planned to decommission unit 4 (VVER-440) and unit 5 (VVER-1000). A new power unit (8 with a VVER-TOI reactor) will replace the retiring 1418 MWe, after which the total capacity of the station will be 3561.3 MWe.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had received a notification from Russia reporting the drone attack. “Russia has informed the IAEA that a drone struck the cooling tower of the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant last night. This did not affect nuclear safety or change the radiation levels at the facility,” the agency said in a statement on X. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi also commented on the incident, emphasising the inadmissibility of such attacks. “Nuclear power plants should never be attacked,” he said.
