At Leningrad NPP, a complex testing of the innovative generation 3+ power unit No 1 with VVER-1200 reactor has begun. Within 15 days the power unit will operate in a continuous mode at 100% power. The testing should confirm the stability of joint operation of the unit’s main and auxiliary equipment, and automatic process control systems.

“Through the past four months of the experimental industrial operation phase, we have completed several hundred interim tests of the unit’s systems and equipment with a gradual power increase. The results indicate that the assembly and commissioning works have been performed at a high-quality and in a full-scale manner. There are no remarks to the unit’s performance. The complex testing should prove that the new unit will work in full accordance with the project – it will be reliable, efficient, stable and, most importantly, safe”, Alexandr Belyaev, the Chief Engineer of Leningrad NPP-2, said.

He also explained that after 15-day complex testing all necessary supporting documents will be forwarded to Rostekhnadzor. Only after this, the new super-power Leningrad unit will be put into commercial operation. It is planned that this important for Russian the nuclear industry event will happen this autumn.

As of 7 August, 2018, the VVER-1200 power unit of Leningrad NPP, which is at the final stage of commissioning, has produced over 1,880,000 kWh of electric energy into the unified power system of the Northwest.

According to the preliminary estimates, after it is commissioned into commercial operation, the economic effect in the form of additional taxes to the consolidated budget of the Leningrad Oblast will amount to more than 3 billion rubles (annualized).

The new facilities will ensure a high level of the country’s energy security, will allow to continue the implementation of a number of large regional investment projects that require significant energy consumption, and will contribute to the growth, development and strengthening of Sosnovy Bor financial independence.

Innovative and super-power power units with VVER-1200water-water power reactors, built at Leningrad NPP-2, belong to the generation 3+. They use the most advanced achievements and developments that meet all post-Fukushima requirements. Such units are unique and have no analogues in the world.

If compared with traditional power units of the same type, the VVER-1200 project has a number of advantages that significantly increase its economic figures and safety. Thus, the capacity of the reactor unit increased by 20% compared to the previous generation (VVER-1000), the number of personnel reduced by 30-40%, the service life of the main equipment doubled and is 60 years with the possibility of extending for another 20 years.

The main feature of the VVER-1200 project is a unique combination of active and passive safety systems that make the plant as stable as possible to external and internal influences. In particular, VVER-1200 reactor units use a melt trap: a device serving to localize the melt of the core of the nuclear reactor, a system of passive heat removal through steam generators, designed to ensure a long-term thermal discharge in the absence of any electricity source, etc.