On 9 March 2017, the General Director of Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev paid a working visit to Novovoronezh NPP (a branch company of Rosenergoatom Concern). This visit of the Rosatom Director to the plant has become the first after commissioning the NVNPP-2 power unit No 1. The commissioning took place on 27 February, 2017, and has become an important event in the international nuclear industry. By now the unit has already generated 1.8 billion kWh of electric energy.


Within the framework of the visit Alexey Likhachev presented state and departmental awards to Novovoronezh NPP specialists, who made a decisive contribution to the preparation of the new first of a kind power unit and its commissioning. Also, the Director of Rosatom wished a long, accident-free, reliable operation to power unit No 1 of Novovoronezh NPP-2.
“The commissioning of the power unit No 1 of Novovoronezh NPP-2 is a world record; both on the scale of the plant itself and Russia, and the international nuclear industry in general. This is the only fully implemented reference in the 3+ category. This is extremely important in order to carry out the energy substitution for the decommissioned power units and to maintain the country's energy balance. In addition, we will build 3+ generation VVER-1200 power units in more than 10 countries around the world. And now we have a unique opportunity  not only to tell our foreign partners about all the advantages of this project in words, but also to show it in practice”, Alexey Likhachev noted.

Also, during the visit of the Rosatom State Corporation General Director to the nuclear power plant, a working meeting was held, where the participants discussed the course and the progress of construction and commissioning of the twinning to the first one power unit No 2 of NVNPP-2. The Plant Manager of Novovoronezh NPP Vladimir Povarov said that the investments for its construction at the expense of all sources of financing will amount 8.77 billion rubles (excluding VAT) in 2017.

The Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is a branch of the JSC "Concern Rosenergoatom". The station is located on the bank of the Don River in 42 km to the south of Voronezh. It is the Russia's first nuclear power plant with VVER reactors (water-to-water power reactors of case type with regular water under pressure). Each of five reactors of the station can be a main one – a prototype of serial power reactors: the power unit No. 1 with the VVER-210 reactor, the power unit No. 2 with the VVER-365 reactor, the No. 3, 4 power units with the VVER-440 reactors, the power unit No. 5 with the VVER-1000 reactor. The first power unit was launched in 1964, the second – in 1969, third – in 1971, fourth – 1972, fifth – 1980. There are three power units (power units No.1, 2 were stopped in 1984 and 1990 respectively) in work at the moment.

The power units Nos 1 and 2 were stopped in 1984 and 1990, respectively. The power unit No 3 was stopped in 2016 for decommissioning activities. The power unit No 1 of Novovoronezh NPP-2 was commissioned on 27 February, 2017. The power unit No 2 of Novovoronezh NPP-2 is in the middle of construction and installation works; its commissioning is planned for 2018.

The new units have improved technical and economic indicators that ensure their safe operation, and meet all post-Fukushima requirements of the IAEA. The main feature of the units is the use of additional passive safety systems that do not require the intervention of NPP personnel. Also some unique and globally unparalleled systems have been applied, such as a system of passive reactor heat removal, hydrogen recombiners and a molten core catcher.
3+ generation power units are currently being built in the USA and France. However, it was the Russian power unit No 1 of NV NPP-2 that became the world's first nuclear power unit of the new generation, which entered the power start-up stage and was put into commercial operation.

The up-to-date information on the nuclear environment close to the Russian NOOs and other nuclear objects is available at www.russianatom.ru


Information and Public Relations Administration Rosenergoatom Concern JSC.