On March 31, 2011 there was a press tour for the members of “Clean Energy” press club dedicated to decommissioning of power units Nos. 1 and 2 of Beloyarsk NPP.

These power units with the АМB-100 and АМB-200 water-cooled graphite-moderated pressure-tube reactors were shut down as early as in 1981 and 1989, respectively, but the spent nuclear fuel unloaded from the reactors is stored in the reactor’s cooling ponds. According to the current regulations, the power units shall be deemed decommissioned only after its removal for reprocessing, and until then they are deemed operated in the “shut down unit” mode.

A usual excursion to Beloyarsk NPP is conducted to the operating BN-600 power unit facilities. But participants of this press tour – more than 30 journalists of regional mass media and blogosphere representatives enjoyed an unrivalled opportunity of following a route, which had been closed for visitors for decades.

They visited a controlled access area of the shut down АМB-100 and АМB-200 power units, examined the units control rooms and the turbine islands. The premises, equipment and instrumentation – everything preserved the spirit of the epoch of the USSR nuclear power industry infancy: in April of 1964 at Beloyarsk NPP the first country’s nuclear power unit of industrial capacity designed to satisfy electric energy needs was out into operation.

After the units examination the journalists went to the underground Beloyarsk NPP production activity hardened control post, where they listened to explanations of the plant administration and specialists. Power units Nos. 1 and 2 are being prepared for decommissioning in accordance with the schedule. The power units equipment has been preserved for long-term supervised storage. Special shipping containers (manufactured by UralChemMash) and special railway cars (manufactured by Tver Wagon Works) have been developed, tested and prepared for safe removal of the spent nuclear fuel.

To improve safety of spent nuclear fuel storage till its removal from the nuclear power plant site, the fuel assemblies manufactured in the 60s have been enclosed into additional cases made of stainless steel. Safe storage of fuel in the reactor cooling ponds is provided by a technical means complex. The removal will be performed depending on the reprocessor readiness to receive the spent fuel of the AMB reactors, in view of their specific nature as compared with reactors of other types.

The units decommissioning program is financed from Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC funds, which has a special reserve fund accumulating deductions from proceeds of each generated kilowatt-hour of electric power.

The management and specialists of Beloyarsk NPP provided the journalists with comprehensive information about decommissioning of the first power units with the АМB-100 and АМB-200 reactors, and a convincing proof of the fact that Beloyarsk NPP had fully ensured safety when carrying out all works in this field, including storage and future removal of the spent nuclear fuel.