Parts of the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in southwestern Russia were temporarily taken offline after a cross-border drone attack. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, said: “Approximately eight drones were directed – there is no doubt about this – toward the Novovoronezh NPP. All of them were neutralised and shot down. However, debris fell and damaged the main switchgear.”
According to Likhachev, Russia has reported the incident to the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi. After the attack, three of the station’s units were disconnected from the grid and reduced to less than 50% capacity to prevent incidents, RIA Novosti reported. “The repair and restoration work was completed very quickly,” Likhachev told reporters.
Alexander Uvarov, a nuclear energy specialist and head of the Atominfo Centre, explained: “The impact was on the open switchgear. This electrical equipment is essentially an interface that connects the nuclear power plant to the power grid. As the name suggests, it serves to receive and distribute electrical energy through the lines.
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.
Novovoronezh NPP previously suffered a drone attack, which targeted the cooling tower of unit 6, on 7 October.
