25.04.2018  INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF LENINGRAD NPP

Leningrad NPP: the reactor unit of the innovative VVER-1200 power unit No 1 was put at 75% capacity for the first time

The next substage of the experimental and industrial operation of the innovative VVER-1200 power unit No 1 has started at Leningrad NPP: the specialists put the power unit at 75% capacity and proceeded to the unit’s equipment and technological systems testing set by the program for the power testing.

“This is the latest victory of the Leningrad nuclear specialists, as well as all those who contribute to the birth of the new, super powerful power unit. All previous testing carried out at the 40% and 50% capacity proved that the starting LNPP power unit operates as intended (generates the electric and heat energy), without accidents, reliably and safely. This means that the whole complex of assembly and commissioning works was carried out with the high quality”, the Deputy Chief Engineer of Leningrad NPP-2 on operation Sergey Shumov said.

He also explained that they will carry out 46 control tests in total at 75% capacity: the specialists will test the systems of the in-core control, carry out the vibro-noise testing, carry out the heat and chemical testing of the steam generators, measure the heat and hydraulic characteristics of the primary circuit, study the neutronic characteristics of the reactor core, check the efficiency of the biological protection, as well as the radiation situation at the NPP.

After the correspondence of the actual parameters and characteristics of systems and equipment performance to the design values is proved, the power unit will be consistently put at 90% capacity, and then at 100% capacity of the normal level. At the final stage a 15-day commissioning tests will be carried out at the normal level capacity. Such comprehensive testing of the power unit must prove one more time that its equipment and technological systems operate in a full accordance with the project design. Only after this the innovative VVER-1200 power unit No 1 of Leningrad NPP will be put into commercial operation. It is planned that this key event important for Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast and Russia will take place by the end of this year.

As of 25 April, 2018 the VVER-1200 power unit No 1 of Leningrad NPP that is at the final stage of the commissioning has generated more than 150 million kWh of electric energy into the unified energy system of North-West. New capacities will provide the high level of the country’s energy security, allow to continue the implementation of a number of the large regional investment projects that require a significant energy consumption, and will promote the growth, development and strengthening of financial self-sufficiency of Sosnovy Bor.

Leningrad NPP is a branch of Rosenergoatom 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 JSC is the customer-developer of the project, ATOMPROEKT JSC is the general designer, and CONTSERN TITAN-2 JSC is the general contractor.


Back to the list