The construction of a 1 200 MW water-to-water energetic reactor (VVER) for Unit 7 at Russian State-owned nuclear company Rosatom’s Novovoronezh nuclear power plant (NPP) is nearing completion, Novovoronezh NPP information and public relations head Yuri Molotov told a delegation of African media and students on Tuesday.

Rosatom hosted a student and press tour of the facility on December 11 and 12.

The company’s subsidiary and nuclear power station operator, Rosenergoatom, hopes to licence the Unit 7 reactor with the nuclear safety regulator Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service (Rostechnadzor) before August 2018, and expects to start commercial operations by the end of the year.

Russia is currently the only country in the world with a Generation III+ reactor –  this means that the reactor is compliant with all post-Fukushima safety requirements. Unit 7 will be the second, as Unit 6 –  the first Generation III+ reactor, as well as the first reactor to be built at Novovoronezh in the post-Soviet Union era – has been operational since February. Units 6 and 7 are “twins” in that they have the same design and capacities.

The design of the VVER-1200 units increases the amount of passive safety measures, and has “considered the drawbacks of previous models,” which ensures that the new units are improved in terms of capacity (20% improvement), life span and safety.

Molotov notes that the NPP has doubled the life of the pressure vessel and primary circuit reactor. Additionally, Novovoronezh has optimised the organisational scheme to reduce the number of personnel working on these units. The doubled walled containment shell’s external shell can protect the reactor from a falling mass of 20 t and can withstand up to 32 mPa.

The internal shell serves as protection from ionising radiation.

Molotov comments that the NPP concluded the eight-year construction process for Unit 6 in May 2016. The assembly of the reactor core took about three months, with Unit 6 being connected to the grid and generating electricity by August 5, 2016.  A six-month period of “integrated testing” occurred thereafter, and Unit 6 started operating commercially on February 27. Unit 7 will undergo the same procedure.

NOVOVORONEZH NPP
The NPP is considered a pioneering facility, having been the first NPP to launch and operate each generation of VVER technology.

Located 4 km outside of the town of Novovoronezh, the plant is unique as each of its reactors are at a different stage of their life cycle. Units 1 through 5 became commercially operational between 1964 and 1980, with units 1, 2 and 3 now decommissioned. The VVER 440 MW Unit 3 reached the end of its life in December 2016.

Unit 3, having started commercial operation in 1971, had its initial 30-year life extended by an additional 15 years by Rostechnadzor in 2001 –  following the implementation of extensive safety and technology upgrades in accordance with updated national and international standards.

Unit 4 uses the same type of reactor as Unit 3 and has been operational since 1972. It also had its initial life extended and will be decommissioned later this month. However, a recent review conducted by Rosenergoatom found that there is capacity to upgrade Unit 4 and extend its life by an additional 15 years. The operator has petitioned Rostechnadzor for an extended licence, which is pending.

The only other operational unit, VVER-1000 Unit 5, operational since 1980, was upgraded in 2010 and had its life extended to 2040.

The NPP employs 4 000 people and contributes significantly to the town’s socioeconomic development.

Nadine James was a guest of Rosatom Africa, which facilitated the press and student tour.