Russia completes hot tests at Novovoronezh II-2

Wednesday, 7 November 2018

Oleg Shperle, project director for the construction of the Novovoronezh plant, said commissioning operations were on schedule and that the tests had proved the equipment complies with design characteristics.

The tests included: the compliance of the main equipment with operation and safety requirements; ability of the protection systems of the primary and secondary circuits to withstand pressure; operation of the main circulation pumps according to the cold and hot parameters of the reactor installation; the power supply system during interruption modes; and simulation of a design-basis accident.

The unit will now undergo an audit of the main and auxiliary equipment of the reactor facility, which will be inspected by regulator Rostechnadzor to confirm that it is ready for physical start-up, which will start in December of this year, ASE said.

Also known as Novovoronezh 7, the unit is a VVER 1200/392M pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit with a design net capacity of 1114 MWe. It is the second of two such units at Novovoronezh II - the lead project for the deployment of the AES-2006 design incorporating a Gidropress-designed PWR, an evolutionary development from the VVER-1000. Unit 1 of the Novovoronezh II plant, Russia's first VVER-1200 reactor, was connected to the grid in August 2016.