The operation mode has been set at the four buildings of the power block No.4 under construction assigned to the thermal instrumentation & control shop. The facilities have been included in the service area for the plant’s operating staff. Access for the installation and the commissioning staff is granted based on the job orders.

Alexander Belyaev, Deputy Chief engineer on second priority operation, said: “Setting the operation mode means that the construction and installation activities on the facilities have been completed and that those facilities will be serviced by the thermal instrumentation and control shop. The General contractor will transfer the compartments set into the operation mode to the operating staff while the equipment based in those compartments is scheduled for the pre-commissioning activities, with respective records made thereof. From now on it will be the thermal instrumentation and control shop of the Rostov NPP responsible for the safe preliminary launch and pre-commissioning activities (pursuant to the SRO Soyuzatomstroy standards)”.

The instrument racks, the conflux stands, the power bars and the four modular control station electric part panels based in the compartments have already been launched operational. The thermal instrumentation and control shop specialists carry out the equipment routine switching, with the facilities being included in the service area for the plant’s operating staff. The NPP power block No.4 experts organize the operations pursuant to the regulations set at the plant, undertake unscheduled instructions on the newly commissioned equipment maintenance, workflow management, and safety measures when switching the power block’s electric installations.

Pursuant to the SRO Soyuzatomstroy standards, setting the power block’s thermal instrumentation & control shop equipment and compartment into the operating mode gives a start to the preliminary pre-commissioning activities.
According to the Rostov NPP power block No.4 first-level construction schedule approved by Rosatom, the first pre-commissioning stage (Substep A-0) is planned for July 21, 2016.

The Rostov NPP is an affiliate company for Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC. The plant is based at the Tsymlianskoe reservoir shore 13.5 km away from Volgodonsk. The NPP operates VVER-1000 reactors with the installed capacity of 1000 megawatts. The power block No.1 commenced commercial operations in 2001, with the second and the third power blocks to follow in 2010 and on September 17, 2015, respectively. The power block No. 4 is currently under construction.

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

The Rostov NPP Information and Public Relations Administration.