Almost two weeks ahead of schedule, construction on the second of the two most powerful and modern power units in Russia has begun.
Construction workers poured the first cubic meter of concrete into the ground which will eventually form the base plate of the reactor building that will house the power unit No.2 at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II.
Generation III+ power units No.1 and No.2 at the Kursk NPP-2 are pilot units equipped with the VVER-TOI reactors (typical optimised, with enhanced information). This new project was designed by Rosatom based on the technical results obtained from the VVER-1200 project.
Andrei Petrov, Director General of Rosenergoatom, said: “Today we launched a series construction of VVER-TOI power units: last April the first concrete of the nuclear basemat of unit No.1 at Kursk-2 was poured. And now we start main construction works at unit No.2 ahead of schedule. This is a considerable milestone in building the world’s first VVER-TOI power units, the most advanced Russian reactor in the field of modern nuclear technologies. A great step not only for Russian but also for global nuclear energy.”
The power units currently under construction have an increased margin of safety from extreme impacts and are also equipped with modern control systems and diagnostics. Kursk NPP-2 is unique among Russian nuclear power plants, as it is the first with a digital automated system for managing the cost and schedule of during the construction process.
In comparison to other Generation III+ power units (No.1 and No.2 at the Novovoronezh NPP-2 and No.1 and No.2 at the Leningrad NPP-2), the VVER-TOI project assumes significant reduction in construction, timeframe and operational costs.
The VVER-TOI design has improved safety measures to the already constructed Generation III+ power units. It is designed to withstand 8-9 points earthquake, whereas the VVER-1200 units can withstand earthquakes up to 7 points. The new power units at the Kursk NPP-2 are also more adaptable, they can operate just as safely on tropical as on arctic sites.
About Rosatom
ROSATOM is the only company in the world to offer integrated clean energy solutions across the nuclear supply chain and beyond, including design, construction and operation of nuclear power stations, uranium mining, conversion and enrichment, supply of nuclear fuel, decommissioning, spent fuel storage and transportation and safe nuclear waste disposal. With 70 years’ continuous experience, the company is the world leader in high-performance solutions for all kinds of nuclear power plants. It is also working in the segments of wind generation, nuclear medicine, energy storage and other. Headquartered in Moscow, the company brings together over 300 enterprises and organizations and over 250,000 employees. Globally, the company has the second biggest uranium reserves, has more than a third of the world’s enrichment market, and is the world's biggest builder of the latest generation nuclear power stations and US$133 billion 10-years export order book.