At the reactor building of Rostov NPP power unit No 4 (town of Volgodonsk, a branch of Rosenergoatom Concern, a part of the largest division of Rosatom – Electric Energy, ASE group of companies – Engineering division of Rosatom - is the General Designer and General Contractor of the construction) the reactor assembly has begun after the completion of nuclear fuel loading.

“After the loading of all 163 fuel assemblies (FAs) into the VVER-1000 reactor unit’s core the specialists have proceeded to the reactor assembly: the installation of in-vessel internals, protective tube unit, and reactor head”, the Head of Reactor Shop of the Phase II Oleg Vysotskiy explained.

It is to be recalled that the sub-stage of the physical start-up of power unit No 4 of RoNPP has been started on 6 December, 2017 with the loading of the first FAs. It has brought with it the start of the large stage of works on preparation of Rostov-4 for power start-up and the beginning of electric energy generation.

After the reactor assembly the hydraulic tests of the reactor unit will be carried out. They will prove the power unit’s readiness for the next procedure of the physical start-up – the transfer of a reactor unit into minimum controlled reactor power. Then, the step of power ascension with more than 100 trials and measurements will be carried out.

After the completion of the physical start-up stage of the power unit No 4 the decisive stage of the start-up operations will begin: the power start-up and the start of electric energy delivery to the customers. They are scheduled for the next year.

The start-up of the power unit No 4 of Rostov NPP will allow to firmly provide with the electric energy to the whole Southern region of Russia. And thus, Rostov Oblast will become one of the top ten Russian regions leading in energy generation. Today, the Plant provides 46% of electric power produced in the region. Electric energy from RoNPP power units goes to Volgograd Oblast, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais and to Volgodonsk, being the basis of power safety of the whole energy system of the Russian South.