The Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) has issued a license for the Kola NPP 2nd power block to run for another 15 years.

‘This event is the highlight of many month of work involving all NPP team members, hundreds of people from the contractors, research, development and design organizations. It summed up the global equipment upgrade and the implementation of the cutting-edge safety systems’, Vasiliy Omelchuk, the director of the Kola NPP, said. He thank the staff for their valorous labor and taking ownership in this crucial governmental assignment.

The total funding for the 2nd power block’s follow-up lifespan expansion was around 4.5 billion rubles, which is one of the hugest investment projects in the Murmansk region. It guarantees stable and reliable power supply within the region and facilitates the establishment of new power-consuming industries in the Arctic Circle of the Kola Peninsula.

It is important to note that nowadays the Kola NPP accounts for over a half of all electric power in the Murmansk region and supplies electricity to the majority of largest manufacturing companies and municipalities.

The extension of the operating NPP power blocks’ lifespan is an effective best practice used worldwide. Keeping the existing park of reactor facilities is crucial for having enough time to prepare for the construction of the replacement capacities.

Since 2001, the lifespan of 27 Russian power blocks has been extended. Three of them have already exhausted their prolonged lifespan and are now being prepared for decommissioning. Two other power blocks are scheduled to obtain the licenses from Rostekhnadzor until the end of 2019 – the 4th power block of the Novovoronezh NPP and the 2nd power block of the Bilibino NPP.