Energoatom Concern OJSC (Energoatom) said that unit 3 of Leningrad nuclear power plant (NPP) was stopped on April 15, 2009, for scheduled maintenance. The maintenance is the final part of the second stage of the program to modernize the unit and to extend its life. The unit 3 was stopped according to the schedule in compliance with safety requirements. The stoppage of the unit has given start to the maintenance campaign 2009.
Presently, unit 1, 2 and 4 of Leningrad NPP are operating safety at a total capacity of 3,000 megawatt (1,000 megawatt each).
In 2009-2010 Leningrad NPP is planning to maintain the unit 1 and 2, to complete the second stage of the modernization of the unit 3 and to overhaul the unit 4: to replace some of its channel assemblies and to carry out the first stage of the unit’s modernization and life extension program.
During the maintenance the personnel will replace 112 rods of the safety control system, the equipment of the main circulation pumps and other systems if need be.
In order to obtain Rostekhnadzor’s license for extending the life of the unit 3, the plant has to complete the modernization of the emergency reactor cooling system, the containment system, the emergency power supply system, the process water supply system and some other systems.
One of the key tasks of this year’s maintenance campaign is to modernize the simulator of the control panel of the unit 3 and unit 4, to harmonize it with new control systems and to complete the in-depth safety analysis of the unit 3.
“The repairs of the 3rd and 4th units, including the modernization work under the life extension program, are quite complex tasks but we have already done such work before and did it quite successfully. So, we are expecting no problems or surprises. In the summer 2009 the 3rd unit is marking its 30th birthday, the 4th unit will be 30 in 2011. By this time we will have to complete the work and to get Rostekhnadzor’s license for further operation of the units, just like we did with the 1st and 2nd units. We are ahead of the schedule and are sure that we will do the work in time,” says deputy chief engineer for maintenance of Leningrad NPP Sergey Kovalyov.
“We have also to carry out in-depth safety analysis of the units. This is one of the requirements of the license. In some aspects safety analysis requires stoppage of the reactor. So, we will make the best of this stoppage and will not only repair the unit but will also thoroughly inspect its pipelines, reactor and technical systems. The inspection will show which systems need to repaired and which to be replaced.”