St. Petersburg, 28 March - Neftegaz.RU. Rosatom announced, that the Unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant in northwest Russia has entered «experimental industrial operation», the final stage of its commissioning. The VVER 1200 reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation before the end of 2018.
Workers started to gradually raise the power output of the reactor after a permit for the beginning of the stage was issued by the Russian regulator Rostechnadzor, Rosenergoatom - the nuclear power plant operating subsidiary of Rosatom - announced. A series of tests will be carried out with the reactor at 40%, 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% of capacity.
Vladimir Pereguda, director of Leningrad NPP, said: «We reached the final stage of commissioning the power unit. Experimental and industrial operation is a rather lengthy and extremely responsible stage. It can be said that this is the last step before the beginning of the new life of the unit.»
Alexander Belyaev, chief engineer of Leningrad NPP II, said: «The criterion for the success of the phase will be the final 15-day delivery tests (complex testing) of the power unit with the reactor facilities at 100% of capacity. They must confirm that the equipment and technological systems of the power unit are working in full accordance with the project.»
The existing Leningrad plant site has 4 operating RBMK-1000 units, while Leningrad-II will have 4 VVER-1200 units. Leningrad II-1 is the 2nd VVER-1200 reactor, following the launch in 2016 of Novovoronezh 6.
