“The commissioning of the first unit with a VVER-1200 reactor at the second Leningrad nuclear power plant this year was a key event not only for the Russian nuclear industry but the country as a whole. We are fully prepared to honor our commitments regarding power supply to the wholesale market. By the end of the year the Leningrad nuclear power plant will remain Russia’s and the Soviet Union’s most powerful nuclear power plant on record with five units in commission at the same time,” BelTA learned from Rosenergoatom Director General Andrei Petrov.
As of 6 December 2018 the output of the five operating units of the Leningrad nuclear power plant stood at 5,240MW. It is the highest figure on record in Russia. The new unit can generate and transfer power to the Russian national power grid as much as the designed output capacity. It has been confirmed by a special inspection sent by the North-West united power grid control office as part of the generating equipment appraisal process.
Apart from that, the Leningrad nuclear power plant is Russia’s only nuclear power plant to use power-generating units of two different types – water-moderated ones and light water graphite reactors. Five units of the Leningrad nuclear power plant will continue working together until the end of the year: on 22 December the first unit with a light water graphite reactor will be halted after 45 years in service, will be switched to an operation without generation mode, and decommissioning procedures will begin.
Director of the Leningrad nuclear power plant Vladimir Pereguda said that the new unit will not simply replace the old one. “The VVER-1200 produces 20% more power. It means we have some reserves for developing the production sector of the entire North-West region. We are fully confident in the safe operation of the new power-generating unit. All the tests have confirmed the unit is ready to work in line with the design for the next 60 years,” the executive said.
At present the Leningrad nuclear power plant provides some 50% of the electricity St Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast need. Since the first unit of the second startup and commissioning complex of the nuclear power plant went online on 9 March 2018, it has made over 2.5 billion kWh of electricity. According to preliminary estimates, economic effect in the form of additional tax revenues for the Leningrad Oblast budget will be over RUB3 billion per year.
The Leningrad nuclear power plant is a branch of the Russian concern Rosenergoatom. It is located in the city of Sosnovy Bor 40km west of St Petersburg on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. The Leningrad nuclear power plant is the country’s first nuclear power plant with light water graphite reactors RBMK-1000. The nuclear power plant runs four units with the output capacity of 1,000MW each. The construction of replacement facilities is under way. The construction of the second unit of the second Leningrad nuclear power plant continues.