Russia starts hermetic tests at Leningrad plant

Testing of the hermetic enclosure system of the reactor containment building has started at unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia, the Rosatom subsidiary managing the project announced today. The work is one of the main stages of pre-commissioning a new reactor unit.

Testing of the hermetic enclosure system of the reactor containment building has started at unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia, the Rosatom subsidiary managing the project announced today. The work is one of the main stages of pre-commissioning a new reactor unit.

The interior of the containment building of Leningrad II unit 1 (Image: Rosatom)

The system consists of a double - internal and external - protective shell to prevent the release of radioactivity into the environment, and will serve as physical protection of the reactor from external influences, the company said.

"Our task is to test the internal protective shell of the reactor building for strength and tightness and to confirm its suitability for operation," Oleg Ivanov, chief engineer at the plant, said in the company statement.

Rosenergoatom, Rosatom's nuclear power plant operator subsidiary, said on 12 April it had started cold and hot function testing at unit 1. The procedure at the VVER-1200 unit will take 72 days to complete, it said, and will include more than 100 pre-operational tests of reactor equipment and systems.

The existing Leningrad plant site has four operating RMBK-1000 units, while Leningrad II will have four VVER-1200 units.

No start date has yet been announced for the new units.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News