One Million Russians Lose Power When Alarm Goes Off at Nuclear Plant

My Bad

While heat waves batter Europe and the rest of the world, a million people in Southern Russia lost power due to a nuclear false alarm.

As Radio Free Europe reports based on statements from Russian energy authorities, the power outage at the region's Rostav nuclear plant, which supplies electricity to the entire Southern Federal District and occupied Crimea, was the result of a shutdown mechanism being activated in error.

In a Telegram statement cited by RFE, Russia's Rosenergoatom nuclear energy operator admitted that a "protection mechanism was triggered" due to a "false alarm." As a result, one of the Rostav plant's four power units was turned off, and an estimated one million people in Russia and Crimea — which Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in 2014 — lost power.

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As of now, it's unclear what exactly the so-called "false alarm" is about, or whether electricity has been restored to those without it.

Nevertheless, it comes at a horrible time for the country, which like the rest of the globe is experiencing unprecedented heatwaves that have resulted in blackouts as people use more energy than ever on air conditioning.

"Electricity consumption in the country increased by 9 percent in the second week of July compared to the previous week — electricity is used primarily for air conditioning and cooling systems," explained Valery Andrianov, an associate professor at Moscow's Financial University, told the Russian-language newspaper Izvestia, per Newsweek.

Beyond the heat and the apparent false alarm, attacks on Russian infrastructure by a barrage of Ukrainian drones at the end of June also resulted in power outages. It appears Ukraine's military took a note out of Russia's playbook in its offensive in the country, which has long involved the targeting of critical infrastructure, including power plants.

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