Power & Operations

VVER units planned for Leningrad and Smolensk

July 8, 2020, 9:50AMNuclear News

Leningrad nuclear plant. Photo: Rosenergoatom

Preparations have begun for the construction of four nuclear reactors in Russia—two VVER-1200 units at the Leningrad plant and two VVER-TOI units near the Smolensk plant, according to Rosenergoatom, a division of Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom.

Rosenergoatom operates all of Russia’s nuclear power facilities. Authorization to move forward with the new-build projects was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom’s director general.

What they’re saying: “The Russian nuclear power industry has approached this stage with newly developed types of [nuclear power plants]—the VVER-1200 and VVER-TOI,” Likhachev said on June 26. “These projects are being successfully implemented in Russia, and VVER-1200 is also implemented abroad. They were designed according to the latest achievements and developments that meet all current international safety requirements.”

Andrei Petrov, director general of Rosenergoatom, added that the new power units will replace “RBMK-1000 reactors, whose service life will end in the next decade. According to preliminary estimates, their construction will create up to 15,000 new jobs, providing regular tax revenues to regional and local budgets.”

The plants: The Leningrad plant comprises Leningrad I, with three 925-MWe RBMK-1000 light-water graphite reactors (as well as one RBMK-1000 that closed in late 2018), and Leningrad II, with one 1,085-MWe VVER-1200 pressurized water reactor, plus an identical unit scheduled to come on line in 2022. The Smolensk plant is home to three RBMK-1000 LGRs, also rated at 925 MWe.

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rosatomrosenergoatomvver
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