A high-level meeting at Russia’s Beloyarsk NPP was held to assess plans for construction of the BN-1200M sodium-cooled fast reactor as unit 5 at the site. Nuclear utility Rosenergoatom Director General Alexander Shutikov and Dmitry Priymak, Director of the Beloyarsk branch ASE (Rosatom’s Engineering Division) inspected the construction site.
Preparatory work began in 2025 and the site has already been cleared of more than 1.4m cubic metres of soil, and the area has been cleared of vegetation and tree stumps. Design documentation is being developed. According to Beloyarsk NPP Director, Yuri Nosov, by the end of the summer, the site will be prepared for drilling and blasting operations.
Shutikov said preparations for the construction of unit 5 are an important stage in the further development of the Beloyarsk NPP and strengthens the technological leadership of the Russian nuclear energy industry as a whole. “Now the main efforts are focused on completing the preparation of design documentation for submission to Glavgosexpertiza in order to get approval by the in the spring of 2027.”
He noted the need to meet the deadlines for pouring first concrete by the end of 2027 and emphasised that an additional set of specialists and managers was needed in the Capital Construction Department of the Beloyarsk NPP.
The meeting also reviewed the work plans for Beloyarsk NPP in 2026 and development prospects until the 2030s. Priority tasks include purchasing steam generator modules and manufacturing a backup intermediate heat exchanger for unit 4.
The service life of the BN-1200M will be at least 60 years. The project uses technical solutions that have proven themselves during the operation of predecessor fast reactor power units – the BN-600 (Beloyarsk 3) and the BN-800 (Beloyarsk 4). Justification of structural materials and fuel for the BN-1200M is carried out based on the work of the BN-600.
