19.02.2018  INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF LENINGRAD NPP

Leningrad NPP has reached the annual target for the isotope production and provided the state defense order for doped silicon

Leningrad NPP (a subsidiary of Rosenergoatom Concern, a part of the Rosatom Electric Power Division) exceeded the plan for isotope production for 2017 and fully provided the defense industry with doped silicon.

The LNPP’s isotopes include cobalt 60 (Co-60), iodine 125 (I-125), molybdenum 99 (Mo-99), and iodine 131 (I-131), used for the diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases. All the indicators of 2017 plan are either 100-percent completed or overperformed.

It is to be recalled that the development of radiation technology and isotope production is a part of the long-term development strategy of Rosatom State Corporation to create new products for Russian and international markets.

Iodine 131 isotope (new to LNPP), which is necessary for radiopharmaceuticals production, has been produced since July 2017. And in six months the Plant has delivered it in the amount of about 300,000 oncological procedures.

As for molybdenum 99 (anti-cancer isotope), its amount delivered to St. Petersburg hospitals will be enough for 5,000 patient examinations.

Another main LNPP isotope is cobalt 60, which is supplied to Canada; and is widely used in medicine and industry. LNPP produced 11 million Curies or 30% of the world demand.

“The market today requires constant expansion”, Yevgeniy Gorbunov, the Head of the Radiation Technologies Department at Leningrad NPP, said. “In 2017 Kursk NPP and Smolensk NPP were involved in the production of cobalt 60. The first additional absorbers that are used in cobalt production were loaded at Smolensk NPP in October. The first isotopes will be ready in 2022; and gradually these two Plants with RBMK-1000 units will replace the Leningrad NPPs in isotope production. “

At present, Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant supplies the country's weapons complex and medical facilities with the necessary modern products of radiation technologies. In the near future, LNPP plans to start developing two new isotopes – samarium 153 (Sm-153) and lutetium 177 (Lu-177). These isotopes are also in high demand in the areas of cancer treatment and diagnosis.

As for the most important direction for the doped silicon supply, LNPP has consistently delivered it to the enterprises working for the state defense order; it’s several tons of the most important material.

“We are the only company in Russia that makes silicon, which is used in high-precision integrated circuits for aircraft construction, space and military equipment, etc”, Yevgeniy Gorbunov noted. 

Leningrad NPP is a branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC. The Plant is located at the town of Sosnovy Bor, 40 km west of St. Petersburg on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. LNPP is the first plant in the country with RBMK-1000 reactors (thermal-neutron heat-pipe cooled uranium-graphite nuclear reactors). The NPP operates four power units with an electric capacity of 1,000 MW each. The first unit of replacement capacities with VVER-1200 reactor is at the physical start-up stage, the second VVER-1200 type unit is under construction. Rosenergoatom Concern JSC is the customer-developer of the project, ATOMPROEKT JSC is the general designer, and CONTSERN TITAN-2 JSC is the general contractor. 

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