“This is a planned operation. We have been preparing for it since December 19, 2021, when the first power unit was put into operation without generation. During this time, the reactor was sufficiently cooled down, - said Alexander Uvakin, director of the Kursk NPP. - All operations are performed normally. The unloading and loading machine removes the cassettes and transfers them to the holding pool. The purpose of our activity is to extract and remove nuclear fuel from the unit. After that, we will start dismantling the equipment.”

Nuclear scientists unload fuel assemblies into the near-reactor spent fuel pool. Then part of the fuel assemblies will be transferred to the station storage, the other part of the fuel, which experts call unburned, will be sent for “afterburning” in the reactors of the operating power unit No. 3 and No. 4 of the Kursk NPP. Thanks to "afterburning", the enterprise has the opportunity to cut down the expenses on the purchase of fresh fuel assemblies, as well as on the handling of fuel assemblies.

Until the end of 2023, nuclear scientists plan to remove all 1,646 fuel assemblies from the reactor.

Let us recall that the RBMK-1000 power unit No. 1 was shut down on December 19, 2021 after 45 years of efficient operation. Now it is undergoing normal operations in preparation for decommissioning. 

To replace the old capacities, the construction of power unit No. 1 and No. 2 of the Kursk NPP-2 generation "3+" is underway, being built according to the PWR-TOI project (standard optimized informatized pressurized water power reactor). They have improved technical and economic indicators. The design service life of the main equipment has doubled and is 60 years. The capacity of each power unit has increased to 1255 MW, which is 25% more than the power units of the operating Kursk NPP.