Leonid Bolshov, director of Nuclear Safety Institute

– The number of information attacks on Russian NPPs is growing

The number of information attacks on the Russian nuclear power plants is growing and this is a response to the federal program for development of nuclear energy: we are building more and more nuclear reactors at home and abroad (we gave won a tender in Bulgaria, are going to take part in tenders in Turkey, Finland, Egypt, have signed agreements with India and China, etc).

One more reason for such activity is the serious plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad region. As a matter of fact, this project is a big blow on similar plans of the Baltic states.

So, the causes of such provocations are quite easy to understand. The problem is how we react to them. A few years ago some hacker put an allegation about an accident at Balakovo NPP on the web-site of the Emergency Ministry. This caused a big panic in Central Russia: newspapers began publishing photos of dogs in gas masks and lots of other scary things. People began buying iodine and drinking it with alcohol – naturally, some of them got in hospital. It was a real nightmare but the guy who did it all was acquitted. I think that such attacks are nothing but terrorism and such attackers must be punished. A person doing such a thing must be offered a choice between the money he is going to earn and the jail he may get in. Perhaps, this will stop some of them.  

Besides, it is necessary to carry out active explanatory work among the population and to offer them easy access to objective information on radiation background at our NPPs. We must do everything to be ready for such provocations as this is in no way the last such act.

I am well aware of the real situation in the sector and I would like to point out that Rosenergoatom Concern is a highly professional organization. In the last years our NPPs have had no single serious incident. This is one of the best results in the world. So, I don’t even doubt that our NPPs are safe.

Note

The radiation situation at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and in the nearby area is within norm.

The radiation background in the area is not higher than the natural level, which proves that the plant is operating safely.

The radiation background at Leningrad NPP, in Sosnovy Bor and its suburbs is 0.13 mSvh, which is normal background for this region.