New Russian VVER-TOI reactor at Kursk plant reaches full power

A new unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant has reached an important milestone on the way to commercial operation. For the first time, a VVER-TOI reactor has reached full power of 1255 MW. The new nuclear units, designed to operate for 100 years, will also replace ageing RBMK reactors at the Smolensk plant. Rosenergoatom estimates that one VVER-TOI unit will generate almost 10 TWh of electricity annually.

Russian energy company Rosenergoatom announced that the first unit of the second phase of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant had reached full power for the first time. It is also the first VVER-TOI reactor, with a capacity of 1255 MW (gross), to reach this milestone. At the Kursk plant, located in western Russia near the Ukrainian border, technicians are also building a sister unit (Kursk II-2). Two more VVER-TOI units at the site have construction permits, but their official construction has not yet begun.

“Our specialists carried out a comprehensive set of tests to verify that the systems and equipment meet their design parameters and to confirm their reliable and safe operation. At full power, we will further examine the characteristics of the reactor core and verify the effectiveness of the biological shielding, as well as radiation conditions at the plant,” said Alexander Uvakin, director of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

Rosenergoatom connected the new unit to the grid at the end of December last year. Since then, it has undergone tests at various power levels, from 40% to 100%. The unit has already generated 570 GWh of electricity during its operation. The company expects to commission the new unit by the end of this year, subject to a permit from the nuclear regulator. Construction of the two Kursk II units began in 2018 and 2019.

Replacing old RBMK reactors

The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant had four RBMK reactors with a capacity of 1000 MW each. The first two units, commissioned in the late 1970s, no longer generate electricity, while the other two, commissioned in 1984 and 1986, are scheduled to operate for another 7-9 years. The first pair of VVER-TOI units will therefore replace the capacity of the retired units, and once all four are completed, the plant’s original installed capacity will increase by 20% to 5 GW.

“Reaching 100% of the designed capacity marks the final stage in commissioning Unit 2 of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. We can already say with confidence that the unit has confirmed the soundness of the VVER-TOI design, as well as the high quality of the equipment supplied and the construction and installation work carried out,” said Oleg Shperle, vice president and director of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant construction project at ASE JSC.

For its new VVER-TOI reactors, Rosenergoatom expects a 100-year service life, with annual generation reaching just under 10 TWh of electricity. Russia plans to build more units of this type at the Smolensk plant, where they will also replace ageing RBMK reactors.