First LAESTochka

Construction of a nuclear reactor began in northwestern Russia

The construction of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant-2 in the city of Sosnovy Bor has entered its most intensive phase. On Saturday afternoon at LNPP-2, to use nuclear industry jargon, “the first concrete began to pour.” From this moment on, the process of construction of the structure will go non-stop.

On this day, it was chilly on the territory of LNPP-2, located in Sosnovy Bor, not far from LNPP-1. A piercing wind was blowing and rain was falling. But this didn’t bother anyone. And ordinary builders, and their bosses, and bosses of bosses, not paying attention to weather conditions, rushed around the perimeter of the future reactor, clearly in euphoria. Respectable men hugged each other, tucked their ties into their jacket pockets, jumped and shouted “Hurray!”

Therefore, representatives of the customer (Energoatom corporation) and four contractors (Titan-2 holding, Northern Construction Administration, Trest Gidromontazh OJSC and Metrostroy OJSC) tried their best on this epoch-making day for them. Before pouring concrete into the first of 14 so-called grips, which will subsequently form the foundation slab of the reactor of the first power unit with a diameter of 51.6 m, the local Sosnovy Bor priest served a prayer service. Then the priest climbed onto the enclosure itself (something like a huge formwork, pierced in three planes with reinforcement) and sprinkled the structure with holy water. Industrialists and officials involved in this event climbed in behind him and made their first contribution to the common cause by throwing a trowel of concrete and a handful of coins through the bars of the reinforcement.

After this, only the workers remained in the occupation. Their task was to correct the “behavior” of the hose from which concrete was poured into the formwork. And everyone else crowded around nylon tents, somehow stretched to protect from the wind, and, filling their glasses with champagne and whiskey, they shouted toasts in honor of the future LNPP-2.

Taking a break from the buffet table, the representative of the general designer, first deputy general director, technical director of the St. Petersburg Institute of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Atomenergoproekt" Anatoly Molchanov told Vremya Novostei that LNPP-2 is being built according to the AES-2006 design with a pressurized water power reactor (VVER ): “This is an evolutionary project, which should reflect the experience of design, construction and operation of the most modern operating stations - Novovoronezh, Zaporozhye, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, South Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The most advanced nuclear power plant today is Tanwan in China, which we also designed. There are four active channels of safety systems, as well as a system of passive heat removal from under the reactor shell and a system of passive heat removal through steam generators, which has not yet been done at our existing stations.”

But LNPP-2, according to Mr. Molchanov, will also have a number of differences from the Tanwan NPP. Firstly, in China the station stands on a basalt rock, but here the project had to be redrawn for unstable Sosnovy Bor soils. The Tanwan Nuclear Power Plant's cooling systems draw water from the ocean. The local “greens” did not allow the builders to approach the Gulf of Finland. Therefore, a cooling tower will be used at LNPP-2. That is, there will be no third-party water in the system. The water will be the same. It will cool the reactor, then cool in the cooling tower and again be supplied to the reactor. The third difference is that for the first time in the world, a simulator will be built at the station - an exact copy of the house in which the station control panel is located. LNPP-2 employees will work out emergency situations there.

In fact, the project is not only unique, but also very important from the point of view of providing energy to the region. LNPP-1 is operating and being modernized. But it is morally outdated. Its installed capacity (1000 MW from each reactor, and due to planned repairs all reactors are almost never started at the same time) amounts to 40% of the generating capacity of the power system of the Northwestern Federal District. LNPP-2, according to Sergei Onufrienko, director of the cost management department for investment projects of OJSC Atomenergoprom, will give life to the entire north-west. After all, when new resources are put into operation, old ones will begin to be decommissioned. As a result, in 10-15 years there will again be only one Leningrad NPP near Sosnovy Bor.

The completion dates for the construction of the first and second power units, according to Mr. Onufrienko, are just around the corner - the power units will go into operation in 2013 and 2014.

Sosnovy Bor is already preparing for the appearance of these objects. And after all the construction is completed, there will be so many new jobs that local residents will not be able to fill all the vacancies on their own. To ensure the operation of the station, this small town in the Leningrad region will have to increase its population by 15-17 thousand people. And local authorities are already preparing to accommodate new employees of the future nuclear power plant. Currently, projects to expand urban infrastructure and build new residential areas are being discussed at different levels of government.

Mikhail TELEKHOV, Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad region