Aging reactors are part of a wider problem. Modern day Russia is coasting on infrastructure investments made during the final decades of the Soviet Union.

A wakeup call came two summer ago, when turbine bolts broke at Sayano Shushenskaya Dam, the largest hydroelectric plant in Russia. The ensuing water hammer pushed a 1,000-ton turbine into the air like a toy. The accident took 75 lives and caused damage that will take four years to repair. The accident was blamed on sloppy maintenance and metal fatigue in a plant installed 40 years ago.

In Germany, Chancellor Merkel is suspending operation of seven aging nuclear plants pending the outcome of "stress tests." The German leader made the move to head off a brewing anti-nuclear campaign.

But Germany is far more densely populated in Russia.

Here, in the world’s largest nation, the attitude toward nuclear power is often: out of sight, out of mind.

Greenpeace Russia Campaign Director Ivan Blokov says local opposition is often strong.

"Something like 75 percent to 92 percent of the population is totally against. But when people do not see a nuclear power station in their backyard, they simply do not care," he said.

But with the Chernobyl anniversary coinciding with balmy spring weather, bigger anti-nuclear protests may be in store for Russia.

"On April 26th, when the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl will happen, we are planning to organize bigger protests and probably more radical," says Vladimir Slivyak of Eco-Defense.