Putin attends nuclear reactor launch

(AP) 

MOSCOW (AP) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is attending the launch of a new nuclear reactor at a Russian power plant.

Putin, who is running to reclaim presidency in a vote next March, has backed a plan to build dozens of new reactors both at home and abroad over the next 20 years.

The 1,000-megawatt reactor that opened Monday is the fourth one at the Kalininskaya nuclear power plant in Udomlya, some 300 kilometers (about 180 miles) north of Moscow. Its construction began before the Soviet collapse, but had remained frozen for a long time due to a lack of funds.

The reactor's opening was Putin's first public appearance since Saturday's protest against vote fraud that drew tens of thousands people in Moscow in the largest show of discontent since the Soviet times.

 The Associated Press