LenNPP 2: Twin of Belarusian nuclear station

The second Leningrad nuclear power plant (LenNPP 2) is nearly ready and is well ahead of the Belarusian “twin” in construction progress. Concrete pouring operations began at the Russian construction site in 2008. Now the active phase of the construction of the first and second power-generating units is in progress. A reactor was installed in one of them a short while ago. There are dozens of auxiliary facilities around the “nuclear island”, administrative buildings are being erected as well as cooling towers and spray ponds.

Reliability is the key consideration during the construction of both the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the Leningrad one. "The configuration of the safeguards that the power plants will have is unparalleled in the world. For the first time we use four circuits of safeguards (passive and active ones), including the core catcher as a unique product developed by Russian scientists," BelTA learned from Nikolai Kashin, Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Second Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate, which is a branch of OAO Rosenergoatom Concern. The safeguards can launch a response that is capable of stopping the spread of radiation in an emergency of any kind.

On the whole, the AES-2006 design, which is used to build both nuclear power plants is a result of the evolutionary development of the most popular kind of nuclear power plants and hence the most technically perfect one — a nuclear power plant with water-moderated energy reactor. Such reactors use light (common) water as a heat transfer agent and a neutron moderator. The electric output capacity of every power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and the second Leningrad nuclear power plant is estimated at 1,200MW. The operating life of the primary equipment of the nuclear power plants is 60 years.

The developers guarantee that the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be able to survive an earthquake as strong as eight points on Richter scale, can survive a powerful wave of water. It can also survive the fall of an aircraft weighing as much as 400 tonnes. The available durability has been tested by experiments using a unique product developed by Russian scientists — a virtual nuclear power plant.

“The virtual nuclear power plant is a kind of a dashboard that can be used to test all the potentially possible situations that can happen at the control panel of a real nuclear power plant,” said Yevgeny Obraztsov, Head of the Research and Development Lab of OAO Atomproject. The virtual nuclear power plant ensures the utmost safety of the facility and allows choosing the optimal operation mode.

The reputation the AES-2006 design has earned is the best confirmation of its quality. Many European countries have expressed interest in building nuclear power plants using the design. “Contracts are being signed with Finland, Vietnam, Hungary. Negotiations are in progress with a number of other countries,” noted Nikolai Kashin. Representatives of the nuclear energy industry from the People’s Republic of China where nuclear power plants with water-moderated energy reactors are already operational can say a lot about the reliability of the AES-2006 design.