Russian president to connect Rostov 4

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to participate in the grid connection today of the country's latest reactor - unit 4 of the Rostov nuclear power plant, which is near the city of Volgodonsk. The Kremlin announced Putin's working visit to Rostov would include a video conference broadcasting the milestone at the plant.

Rosatom's director-general, Alexey Likhachov (centre), at the Rostov 4 ceremony(Image: Rosatom)

Rosatom subsequently confirmed that President Putin at 6:30pm launched the process to 'bring the unit to its full capacity'. The unit's turbogenerator was synchronised with the grid earlier in the day, the company said.

Preparations for the physical start-up of unit 4 began on 6 December, with the loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor. Within five days, all 163 fuel assemblies were installed and on 29 December the unit was put at the minimum controlled power level. Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced on 23 January that Rostechnadzor, the Russian regulator, had issued a permit required for start-up operations at the unit.

Four 1000 MWe VVER pressurised water reactors have been planned at the Rostov site since the early 1980s. Construction of units 1 and 2 began promptly, but progress faltered. Units 1 and 2 eventually entered commercial operation in 2001 and 2010, respectively. Unit 3 was connected to the grid in 2015.

TASS news agency noted that the Rostov project had started in the autumn of 1979 but, following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 and also because of the start of the economic crisis in the USSR, the Rostov Council of People's Deputies in August 1990 decided to halt construction work, even though unit 1 was 95% complete. The project was suspended for ten years until, in May 2000, Gosatomnadzor approved the resumption of work at the site.

The three Rostov units in operation generated more than 23 terawatt hours of electricity last year and meet about 40% of the Rostov region's power demand.

Russia's ten nuclear power plants have a total installed capacity of 27.9 GWe and unit 4 is the 36th reactor to be in operation in the country.

Researched and writtenby World Nuclear News