Russia tests passive heat removal at Leningrad II unit

Rosenergoatom has announced completion of testing the passive heat removal system at unit 1 of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant under construction in western Russia. Rosenergoatom, which is the nuclear power plant operator subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, described this as "one of the most important protective safety systems" at the reactor.

The work was carried out during hot runs of the VVER-1200 unit's equipment, the final major start-up and adjustment stage before commissioning, it said.

"The passive heat removal system through the steam generators is designed for the removal of residual heat and the cooldown of the reactor in the event of beyond-design basis accidents associated with plant blackout or total loss of feedwater," Vitaly Shutikov, head of the reactor department at the Leningrad plant, said.

"The main feature of this system is its complete independence. The production capacity of the system is such that three of four trains that are independent of each other are capable of providing prolonged residual heat removal from the reactor core in one day, as a minimum. At present, all four trains of the system have been successfully tested; they are ready to operate and during the unit operation will be always in stand-by mode," he added.

The general designer of Leningrad II is Atomproekt, while the general contractor is TITAN-2 JSC.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News