On 25 September, 2018, Viktor Katkov, the Head of the Don Interregional Administration for Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision (Rostekhnadzor), signed the Statement of Conformity (SOC) of the constructed power unit No 4 of Rostov NPP (Volgodonsk, a branch of Rosenergoatom JSC, a part of Rosatom’s Electric Power Division) with the requirements of technical regulations and project documentation. The KS-14 Form stating that the facility is fully completed and ready for operation was signed the day before.

The signing of these key documents is the main stage for further processing of the rest of the documents, and in fact gives the ‘green light’ for putting the Rostov NPP 4th power unit into commercial operation.

It should be noted that Rostov NPP is the first plant in modern history, where the so-called line construction is revived; it ensures both compliance with the project construction period of and the most effective use of material and financial resources. Thanks to this, the construction of the unit No 4 of RoNPP was completed on time and with a saving of 1.560 billion rubles.

The comprehensive inspection, which resulted in the final conclusion on the power unit readiness for commercial operation, was carried out by Rostekhnadzor at RoNPP from 24 July to 3 August, 2018.

The inspection tackled the whole range of issues related to the completed construction of the 4th power unit of RoNPP, namely: execution of construction works at the capital construction facility, geodesic and excavation works, foundation and bedding works, concrete and reinforcement works, production and assembly of reinforced concrete structures, units and steel structures, implementation of leak tightness and heat insulation works, technological equipment installation, working documents completeness check, execution of electric installation and commissioning works, checking compliance with the normative requirements on the sanitary-epidemiological and environmental security, etc.

It is to be recalled that the power unit No 4 has been at the Experimental Industrial Pilot Operation stage since 21 February, 2018. On 14 April, the reactor unit was set to 100% capacity.

The final stage of the construction of Rostov NPP power unit No 4 will be its commissioning in commercial operation, scheduled for October 2018. And in the nearest future, it is necessary to obtain permission from Rosatom State Corporation for this operation.

Rostov NPP today is one of the largest enterprises in the energy sector of the Rostov Oblast and the South of the country. The launch of the power unit No 4 will make it possible to sustainably supply energy to the entire southern region of Russia.

At the same time, the Rostov Oblast itself will be included into the top ten Russian Oblasts leading in energy production. At the moment the Plant provides 46% of electric energy produced in the region. The energy from its power units goes to the Volgograd Oblast, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais and to Volgodonsk. With the commissioning of the new power unit No 4, the Plant’s share in regional energy generation will be more than half, reaching about 54%. The operating power unit No 4 can give additional taxes to the budgets of all levels of about 1.5 billion rubles per year, and in the first year after its commissioning additional allocations in form of property tax only will amount to about 1 billion rubles.