The Organization of European Energy Producers has announced that VVER-TOI, the most cutting-edge Russian nuclear power plant project, fully complies with the European Utility Requirement (EUR). The grand ceremony of certificate award took place in Saint Petersburg on June 13, 2019.

The owner of the VVER-TOI project, the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company (a part of the Electric power division of the Rosatom State Corporation). The general designer is AO Atomenergoproyekt (the engineering division of Rosatom), the reactor facility constructor is AO OKB ‘Hydropress’, the science officer is NRC ‘Kurchatov Institute’.

During the certificate award ceremony, Mr. Guillaume Jacquard, the Deputy Director of Project support and digital transformation at EDF (France), thanked the participants for all the great work they have done. ‘I feel confident I can say that the VVER-TOI project has undergone the most thorough and deep investigation and fully adheres to the EUR requirements’, Mr. Jacquard noted.

The European experts came to a conclusion that the project solution adheres to the EUR standards following the review of the design and engineering documentation and information provided in the documents for the Kursk NPP-2 reference project. The analysis pre-supposed the review of responses to 4332 basic questions related to the EUR safety requirements, which cover all aspects of the nuclear power plant operation. As a result, the European experts summed up that the VVER-TOI project adheres to the most up-to-date notion of NPP safety and economic performance. This review gives an opportunity to increase the quality of development for any future projects and further NPP operation.

According to Alexander Lokshin, the President of the AO IK ASE and the First Deputy CEO on Operating Management at the Rosatom State Corporation, the award of the EUR certificate is an important mark that the industry’s achievements in creating another modern nuclear power plant project is appreciated. ‘We have introduced the VVER-TOI that takes advantage of the top-notch technology solutions fostering the safety and reliability of NPP operation. The EUR certificate we obtained today is another confirmation that these solutions follow the international standards’, he added.

As of today, the goal of the VVER-TOI project is to make sure that the Russian VVER technology can be competitive on an international project and is aimed at subsequent serial construction of VVER-TOI NPPs both in Russia and across the globe. The fact that this project was acknowledged as compliant with the requirements of the European operators will help to promote Russian nuclear technologies at foreign markets.

It is important to note that nowadays pilot Kursk NPP-2 power blocks No.1 and No.2 are being constructed in Kurchatov, the Kursk region, following the VVER-TOI (Water-Water Energy Reactor Universal Optimized Digital) project. This is a new design created by Russian specialists based on the VVER-1200 NPP technical solutions. These 3+ generation power blocks possess improved technical and economic parameters: compared to the previous-generation power blocks (VVER-1000), the capacity of each has been increased by 25%, up to 1255 megawatt. The major equipment’s life span has doubled. Compared to other power blocks, the VVER-TOI projects stipulate considerable reduction of construction and operational costs as well as the time lines. This design also combines passive and active safety systems. In particular, VVER-TOI includes a core melt localization device as one of the means of controlling accidents outside of the design. This is a unique Russian safety technology that guarantees safety management.