Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant


Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant ) is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Sosnovy Bor in Russia's Leningrad Oblast, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, some to the west of the city centre of Saint Petersburg.
As of 2018, the plant has four nuclear reactors of the RBMK-1000 type, where unit one is closed down. These reactors are similar to reactors No. 1 and 2 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Plans are underway to replace the RBMK-reactors with four new reactors of the VVER-1200 type, with the plant identification "Leningrad II". On 25 October 2008, Saint Petersburg Atomenergoproekt began concreting the foundation plate of the reactor building of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant II, Unit 1. Cost of the project was estimated to be almost 70 billion Russian ruble . A construction licence was issued on 22 July 2009. In October 2018 Leningrad II-1 started commercial operation, and Leningrad II-2 is scheduled for start of commercial operation during 2020. Leningrad II-3 and II-4 are planned but construction has not started.
In December 2019 Leningrad II-1 was integrated into the district heating system of Sosnovy Bor and the local industrial park, replacing the heating capacity of the closed RBMK-1000 units. Thermal output is 3200 MW.
From May 2012 to December 2013, Unit 1 was offline while repairs were made related to some deformed graphite moderator blocks.

Reactor data

UnitReactor typeNet capacity
in MW		Gross capacity
in MW		Construction
started		Electricity
grid		Commercial
operation		ShutdownCleared out
Leningrad - 1RBMK-100092510001970-03-011973-12-211974-11-012018-12-21
Leningrad - 2RBMK-100092510001970-06-011975-07-111976-02-11-
Leningrad - 3RBMK-100092510001973-12-011979-12-071980-06-29-
Leningrad - 4RBMK-100092510001975-02-011981-02-091981-08-29-
Leningrad II - 1VVER-1200/491 108511872008-10-252018-03-092018-10-29--
Leningrad II - 2VVER-1200/491 108511992010-04-15--
Leningrad II - 3VVER-1200/491 10851199???-
Leningrad II - 4VVER-1200/491 10851199???-

Incidents and accidents

The first accident at the plant occurred shortly after the first unit came online. On 7 January 1975, a concrete tank containing radioactive gases from Unit 1 exploded; there were no reported accident victims or radiation releases.
Less than one month later, on 6 February 1975, the secondary cooling circuit of Unit 1 ruptured, releasing contaminated water into the environment. Three people were killed, and the accident was not reported in the media.
On 28 November 1975, a fuel channel in Unit 1 suffered a loss of coolant, resulting in the degradation of a nuclear fuel assembly that led to a significant release of radiation lasting for one month. Immediately after the accident, the radiation level in Sosnovy Bor, from the affected power unit, was 600 mR/h; in total, 1.5 MCi was released into the environment. The exposed inhabitants of the Baltic region were not notified of the danger. The accident was not reported in the media.
In July 1976 and again in September 1979, due to a poor safety culture, fire broke out in a concrete vault containing radioactive waste. Water used in extinguishing the fires was contaminated, leaked into the environment, and entered the water table. This was not reported in the media.
On 28 December 1990, during refurbishment of Unit 1, it was noticed that the space between the fuel channels and the graphite stack had widened. The contaminated graphite was spilled, and the radiation levels in the space under the reactor increased. Radiation was detected 6 km away from the unit, but this was not reported in the media.
On 3 December 1991, due to faulty equipment and lax safety rule compliance, 10 new fuel rods were dropped and damaged. The staff tried to conceal the accident from the management.
In March 1992, an accident at the Sosnovy Bor nuclear plant leaked radioactive gases and iodine into the air through a ruptured fuel channel. This was the first accident at the station that was announced in the news media.
On 27 August 2009, the third unit was stopped when a hole was found in the discharge header of a pump. According to the automated radiation control system, the radiation situation at the plant and in its monitoring zone was normal. The plant's management refuted rumors of an accident and stated that the third unit was stopped for a "short-term unscheduled maintenance", with a restart scheduled for 31 August 2009.
On 19 December 2015, unit 2 was stopped due to a broken steam pipe. No radioactively contaminated material was released. The situation inside Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and the industrial area around the station has not changed and the radiation level remains within the limits of natural background values.
On 22 December 2018, the first unit of Leningrad NPP was shut down for decommissioning. The full unloading of the nuclear fuel from within the unit is planned to take until 2023.

Production Leningrad Block 1-4, 1974-2017 (TWh/year)

Gallery