Unit 2 of Russia’s Leningrad-II NPP (also known as Leningrad 6) began commercial operation on 22 March. “The new unit at the Leningrad NPP is the fourth with a VVER-1200 reactor,” said Andrey Petrov , General Director of nuclear utility Rosenergoatom. “With its commissioning, the total number of NPP units in our country has increased to 38. It will completely replace the capacity of the RBMK-1000 reactor at unit 2, which after 45 years of operation was finally shut down in November 2020, and will ensure the energy and economic stability of the region.”
“This is a significant event for Rosatom, for our country and for the entire world nuclear community,” said Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom General Director. He noted that the VVER-1200 is 200MW more powerful than the previous series of VVER reactors and also has double the design life. Similar projects are being implemented in Belarus, Finland, Hungary, and Egypt, he noted. “And it is very important for our international partners to be able to look at all stages of construction - from project development to industrial operation."
The Leningrad NPP is the only plant in Russia where power units of two different types are in operation - channel uranium-graphite (RBMK) and water-moderated (VVER). The station provides more than 55% of the energy consumption of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region or 30% of all electricity in the North-West of Russia.
Vladimir Pereguda, Director of the Leningrad NPP said he was confident that the new unit “has a safe and secure future”. He added: “Hundreds of tests carried out at the stage of pilot operation have convincingly shown that the power unit is ready to operate in full compliance with the project in order to continue to provide electricity to the dynamically developing North-West region."
The installed capacity of the Leningrad NPP is 4400 MWe, comprising two 1,000MWe RBMK units (3&4) and two VVER-1200 units. By the time it was put began commercial operation, the new unit had generated about 2TWh of electricity.
