Construction milestone at Leningrad II

18 June 2009

The foundation plate for the first new reactor at Leningrad Phase II is now complete. The milestone comes amid public engagement on the construction of the third and fourth units there.

 

 

Leningrad II - concrete (Rosenergoatom)
Workers at Leningrad II
(Image: Rosenergoatom)

AtomEnergoProekt began pouring the concrete for the foundation of the first of the two new reactors at the Leningrad plant on 25 October 2008. The concrete foundation extends 7.5 metres below ground level. Workers are also ready to start concreting the foundation plate for the second unit.

 

The 1170 MWe reactor, of the new AES-2006 model pressurised water reactor (PWR) design, is scheduled for commissioning in October 2013 and the second a year later. Two further AES-2006 units are under construction at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant, with first power scheduled in late 2012 and 2013, respectively. These first AES-2006 units are expected to be built at a cost of some $3.0-3.7 billion per pair. Leningrad II would eventually boast four AES-2006 reactors.

   

Public hearings

 

Meanwhile, public hearings on the environmental impact assessment of the third and fourth new units at Leningrad have taken place in nearby Sosnovy Bor. The hearings, conducted by Grigory Dvas, vice governor of the Leningrad region were attended by some 600 people.

 

Alexander Kazarin, chief engineer of the Leningrad II project, told the meeting that the plant would be unprecedentedly safe: it will have four active safety systems, melted core traps and several passive systems. He said that no other nuclear power plant in the world has such a combination of safety systems.

 

While comparing the present hearings with those held in 2007 on the construction of the first two units of Leningrad II, Konyshev said, "Today people show a much more realistic approach to the prospect of construction of the third and fourth units. Two years ago they were doubtful. Today, the project is being implemented in close compliance with the schedule and it is good that people have begun to trust us and to appear with more sensible and specific proposals."

 

District heating

 

In addition to supplying 1170 MWe in electricity, each of the four Leningrad II reactors will provide 9.17 petajoules per year of district heating, combining to transform Russia's current nuclear cogeneration heating capacity of about 12 petajoules per year.

 

In addition, Russia's plans include 5 GW of small nuclear reactors for electricity and district hear by 2018 at Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Chukoyka and Severodvinsk.