On 7 September, 2017, Rosenergoatom Concern JSC (a part of the Electric Power Division of Rosatom SC) – the largest generating company in Russia; it’s the second company in the world in volume of nuclear generating capacity – celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Today, the Concern is the only company in Russia that simultaneously builds eight power units with generating capacity of at least 1 GW each at 5 sites, and one floating power unit. The Concern includes 10 operating NPPs (branch companies) operating 35 power units with total installed capacity of 27.9 GW, the Managements of NPPs under construction, as well as a number of engineering enterprises. At the same time, Rosenergoatom successfully fulfills its main mission - the production of electric and heat energy at nuclear power plants with guaranteed security as the highest priority of the Concern’s activity.

For a quarter of a century of work, since the formation of Rosenergoatom in 1992, the Concern’snuclear power plants have generated about 3 trillion 670 billion kWh of electric energy. 8 new power units have been put into commercial operation, including the unit No 1 of Novovoronezh NPP-2 and the unit No 4 of Beloyarsk NPP. The service life of 25 power units has been extended. The increase of the CIUM has reached 85.95% instead of 52.6%.

All this time, the safety standards at Russian NPPs were not only supported at a high level, but also constantly improved. As a result, the total number of violations was reduced 3 times, the number of connected to safety incidents at Russian nuclear power plants was reduced 10 times, and since 1999 there have been no violations above the first level in the INES scale.

The Head of Rosenergoatom Concern Andrey Petrov, summing up the results of the company's 25-year work, noted that over the years the Concern had not only been preserved, but had become the largest generating company in Russia and one of the leaders in operation and construction of nuclear power plants in the world. “The most important change over these years is the revival of the construction complex. Today we are simultaneously constructing 8 nuclear power units, the Concern acts here as a investor and technical customer. A few years ago, when on average it took three years to complete each unit, only few could imagine that such a volume of construction work would be even possible. However, today we build a VVER-1000 unit (unit No 4 of Rostov NPP), and we also build power units for advanced international nuclear projects. Among the key events of the nuclear power industry around the world for the past year there were the commissioning of the unit No 4 of Beloyarsk NPP with the innovative BN-800 reactor on fast neutrons; the power start-up of the unit 1 of NVNPP-2 with the 3+ generation VVER-1200 reactor, which takes into account the post-Fukushima experience. Both of these units are the basis for the development of nuclear energy yinnovations. They are the key competitive advantage of the Russian nuclear industry”, Petrov said.

According to him, the Concern also has to carry out a number of major works on the construction sites this year, “Until the end of 2017, we’ll have to face launch operations of the units No 1 of Leningrad NPP-2 and No 4 of Rostov NPP. In addition, we have been actively preparing for the construction of Kursk NPP-2 replacement plant. We will have to start reinforcing the base plate of the unit No 1 reactor building, which is an important milestone for the key event – ‘the first concrete’ in 2018. A number of works are to be performed at the power unit No 2 of NVNPP-2: this year the unit’s systems should be ready for the safety system flushing into the open reactor.”

In addition, by the end of this year, it is planned to commission the first stage of one of the Concern’s most important projects – the Data Processing and Storage Center (Mendeleev Data Center) – near Kalinin NPP. Its task will be to implement its own data processing and storing system for the production needs, as well as diversify the business portfolio and develop a new direction for the Company to provide data processing and storage services.

Also, as part of new business lines development, the Company will continue successfully developing the production of the Cobalt-60 (Co-60) isotope, which is used in the production of gamma radiation sources widely used in many industries. The Leningrad, Smolensk and Kursk NPPs have become the platforms for this project.

The Concern also actively works to fulfill its obligations under the concluded contracts for servicing nuclear power plants of Russian design abroad. Now the work in this direction is carried out in 12 countries, such as Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Iran, China, Bolivia, Finland, Lithuania, and India. In Armenia, Iran, and Bulgaria, the Division is the market leader.

In addition, new service lines – such as Nuclear Infrastructure and Personnel Training – are successfully developed. The personnel of Hanhikivi NPP (Finland) is undergoing the base course for pilots, and the Belarusian specialists regularly go through the internship at the Training Center (TC) of Novovoronezh NPP.

It is to be noted that energy generation at Russian NPPs (branches of the Rosenergoatom Concern) can reach another record by the end of 2017, exceeding the FAS targets and becoming an excellent present for the Concern's 25th anniversary. In 2016, it amounted to 196.366 billion kWh, also exceeding the 2015 target of 195.213 billion kWh.