UN nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi arrived on August 27 at the Kursk nuclear power plant, which Moscow says has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces who are just 40 kilometers away after carving out a slice of Russian territory. The safety of nuclear power plants has repeatedly been endangered over the course of the Ukraine war, which began in February 2022 when Russia sent thousands of troops over the border into Ukraine. The incursion by Ukrainian forces into Russia, which began on August 6, has put the spotlight on the Kursk plant -- a major Soviet-era station. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine last week of trying to attack the Kursk plant, which has four Soviet graphite-moderated RBMK-1000 reactors -- the same design as those at the Chornobyl nuclear plant, which in 1986 became the scene of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. Ukraine has yet to respond to the accusations that it attacked the facility.
UN Nuclear Chief Visits Russia's Kursk Atomic Plant Near Front Line
The nuclear power plant in Kursk is a major Soviet-era station with the same type of reactors as those used in Chernobyl. (file photo)