This file is no longer being updated. For information on
developments in the nuclear power industry, please see the Nuclear
Power Developments section.
Udomlya
Address: Kalinin AES, Udomlya,
Tver Oblast, 171850
Telephone: (08255) 44742
Fax: (08255) 44591
Plant Manager: Stanislav Antipov
Chief Engineer: Vasiliy Aksenov
VVER-1000 PWR, Model V-338 (third generation)
Two
Unit 1: initial criticality 4/84 (operational 5/84)
Unit 2: initial criticality 11/86 (operational 12/86)
950 MWe per unit
Enriched to 3.3-4.4 percent
Gosatomnadzor stated in 1994 that the plant is allowed
to operate Units 1 and 2 at only 90 percent capacity, due to safety concerns.
Kalinin NPP has obtained fire protection systems from the German company
Siemens and the French company Framatome.[1] Since
1996, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has been assisting with safety
improvements at Kalinin, focusing particularly on improving the safety of
day-to-day operations. The transfer of training methodology and materials for
safety and maintenance measures developed at the Balakovo Training
Center to the Kalinin NPP has begun; Kalinin NPP instructors have
been trained. Training courses in mechanical maintenance, rotating equipment,
and a pilot course in laser shaft alignment were developed. To complement
the pilot course, laser shaft alignment equipment was provided. Plant personnel
were trained to develop improved operating safety procedures and practices
through operator exchanges. Construction of a full-scope plant simulator
began in 1995 and is scheduled for completion in April 2000. The DOE also
provided Kalinin NPP with computer and input/output system components for
a VVER-1000 full-scope simulator and conducted a workshop on the certification
of full-scope simulators for nuclear power plants for the staff of the
Kalinin, Kola and Novovoronezh
NPPs.[2]
At Kalinin, liquid waste is processed using the bituminization
and "deep evaporation" techniques. As of October 1996, the liquid radioactive
waste storage facility was 70-85 percent full; the solid waste storage
facility was 65-85 percent full. The station needs an idle capacity
for emergency unloading.
According to Nuexco Review, construction of Unit 3,
a 950 MWe VVER reactor, was begun prior to 1986.[1] As of July 1999,
Unit 3 was 80 percent complete. According to Minatom, the completion
of the construction of Unit 3 will cost 350 million rubles ($14.45 million
as of 22 July 1999).[2] In June 2000 Gosatomnadzor
granted Rosenergoatom a license for the completion of Unit 3 construction
within one year. Rosenergoatom plans to bring the new reactor on
line in 2005.[3] Construction of Unit 4 was discontinued.
(For more recent developments,
see the Nuclear
Power Developments file):
10/99: KALININ NPP SUED BY PROGRESSPROMBANK
At a press conference in October, representatives
of Kalinin NPP, Progressprombank, and bank investors discussed Kalinin
NPP debts to Progressprombank. Progressprombank is suing Kalinin NPP over
a credit it granted the plant; the suit is set to be heard in November.
NPP Director Stanislav Antipov notes that the credit in question was transferred
to a loan account, rather than the NPP's working account, and was therefore
inaccessible. Antipov said that the NPP had offered to repay the sum the
bank owed its investors, but that the bank was insisting on additional
interest payments. Lawyers suggest that the suit may be thrown out
because Progressprombank did not deposit its credit in the NPP working
account. Bank director Lyubov Grishina showed journalists a letter,
signed in 1997 by the governor of Tver Oblast and the director of Rosenergoatom,
which guaranteed the NPP would repay the loan. She said no payments
had been received since that time. Progressprombank has brought a
total of eight suits against the NPP. Seven of them were thrown out
by the courts because bank representatives failed to attend the hearings.
NPP director Antipov also noted that Tverenergo owed the NPP 500 million
rubles ($19.4 million as of 22 October 1999), and the Russian energy system
twice that, making it impossible for the NPP to repay its creditors.
7/99: ROSENERGOATOM AND EUROPEAN
COMMUNITY DISCUSS UNIT 3 FUNDING
Rosenergoatom
Director Leonid Melamed held talks with EU representatives in Paris regarding
funding for Kalinin NPP's Unit 3.[1] Melamed hopes to obtain up to $200
million in credit to finish the reactor, but reported that EU representatives
appear to favor funding Chornobyl, Ukraine, and Kozloduy, Bulgaria over
the Kalinin NPP.[1,2] Earlier talks on the subject were held with Euroatom
and EU representatives in Brussels at the end of July. Further talks
are scheduled for late September in Moscow.[2]
6/2/99: KALININ NPP SAFETY NOT THREATENED BY Y2K PROBLEMS
All date-sensitive systems at the plant have been inventoried,
including the "Uran," "TEP" (technical and economic indicators), "Khortitsa"
(internal reactor security) and "Remont" systems. Programs to test
the systems have been devised. Unit 2 systems were tested when the
reactor was off line. The Kurchatov Institute is helping the plant
to reconfigure the Khortitsa system.
5/98: UNIT 3 MAY USE MOX FUEL
There are plans to use MOX fuel, a mixture of plutonium oxide and uranium
oxide, in Kalinin NPP's Unit 3, which is currently under construction.
According to the Socio-Ecological Union, a Russian environmental organization,
the reactor has not passed an environmental assessment examination, making
its construction illegal.
2/98: KALININ NPP ASKS TO SELL POWER DIRECTLY TO
CONSUMERS
The Kalinin nuclear power plant has requested permission to sell electricity
to Maksatikhinskiy Rayon directly, at reduced rates. It is hoping
to attract other direct power consumers, eliminating the need for middlemen.
2/98: UNIT 3 GENERATOR'S STATOR INSTALLED, KALININ NPP FINANCES IMPROVING
Unit 3's electricity generator stator, constructed by St. Petersburg's
Elektrosila plant, was installed in Feberuary 1998. Prepayment for
both the stator and transport costs were made by Kalinin NPP. Kalinin
NPP has paid off back wages, is paying off its debts to the city, has restructured
its debt to Tver Oblast, and is working on paying off its debts to Progressprombank.
12/18/97: GOVERNMENT PROGRAM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY INCLUDES
KALININ-3
The Cabinet of Ministers adopted a program for the development of atomic
energy on 18 December 1997. The program confirms the importance of
completing Kalinin NPP Unit 3. See the 7/21/98
abstract in the Nuclear Power Developments section for more details
on the program.
12/16/97: KALININ UNIT 3 REACTOR SHELL INSTALLED
On 16 December 1997 the reactor shell was installed at Kalinin's Unit 3.
Completion of Unit 3 is expected in 1999. At present, work is under
way to create an automated system to control technological processes.
7/17/97: TVER OBLAST DEPUTY GOVERNOR DISAPPEARS WITH KALININ NPP PROMISSORY
NOTES
Ibragim Gulayev, Tver Oblast deputy governor in charge of foreign economic
relations, material resources, and investments, disappeared with 20 billion
rubles ($3.5 million as of 17 July 1997) worth of promissory notes issued
by Kalinin NPP. Gulayev had persuaded the NPP to issue the notes
in order to help solve their triangular debt crisis with Progressprombank
and Tverenergo. The new director of Kalinin NPP, Igor Grebeshev,
says that the promissory notes were issued illegally, as permission from
federal agencies is required for a state enterprise to issue such notes.
7/16/97: KALININ NPP SAFETY QUESTIONED
G. Asinkritov, Director of the Upper Volga Environmental Safety Institute,
in an article for Tverskaya zhizn, writes that environmental impact
assessments of the Kalinin NPP raise questions about the safety of constructing
reactors or waste storage facilities in the area. For instance, the
30 April 1990 statement of findings by independent experts on the environmental
situation of the Kalinin NPP zone recommends that the construction of Unit
3 be halted due to the lack of water and the unpredictable geological changes
construction might bring. Asinkritov writes that the existence of
geological difficulties has long been known. In 1977 a bore hole
was drilled which led geologists to discover several deficiencies in the
territory near the NPP: a sink-hole was discovered, the rock was absorbent,
and there were problems with sand slides. After these results, the
NPP commissioned another study, which also noted geological problems and
concluded that storing industrial waste in the area was impermissable.
In 1989-1990
Tsentrgeologiya
conducted tests in the Kalinin NPP zone and found elevated levels of beryllium,
scandium, vanadium, lead, gallium, titanium, and copper, and concluded
that the NPP exhibited a clearly negative influence on the surrounding
environment. Further, the Tsentrgeologiya study noted that tectonic
faults were not taken into account during the construction of the NPP.
Further studies note that the use of underground water sources endangers
the geologic stability of the territory. The current Unit 3 plans
call for the use of such water as reactor coolant.
12/7/96: GOVERNMENT DECREE ON FINANCING KALININ-3
The Government of the Russian Federation issued a decree
on 7 December 1996, calling on Minatom, the Ministry of the Economy, the
Ministry of Finance, Rosenergoatom, and YeES Rossii to develop a program
to finance the completion of the third unit at Kalinin NPP. Funding will
come from the federal budget and investment by Rosenergoatom and YeES Rossii.
The State Committee on State Property, Minatom, and Rosenergoatom will
investigate the possibility of making Kalinin-3 a joint stock company in
order to attract investors.
10/21/96: KALININ NPP WORKERS HOLD STRIKE
Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that on 10/21/96, Kalinin
NPP workers held a brief strike outside management offices, then went to
their respective work stations. The strike was conducted after workers
followed grievance procedures established for other industries. According
to Rosenergoatom vice president Boris Antonov, all reactors are functioning
normally and there is no threat to safety. According to Post-Soviet
Nuclear and Defense Monitor, the strike lasted for one hour, during
which all operations, except those necessary to maintain safety, were halted.
Smolensk NPP workers also held a strike on the same day.
6/15/96: JOINT PROJECT HAS DESIGNED NEW INVENTORY PROCEDURES
A joint MPC&A project of Euratom and the Bochvar All-Russian
Research Institute of Inorganic Materials designed inventory procedures
for handling fissile materials at the Kalinin nuclear power plant.
3/26/96: KALININ-3 TO BE BUILT BY 2000
According to Rosenergoatom's investment manager, Vladimir
Severinov, completion of Kalinin-3 is expected by 2000. VVER-640 is also
planned at Kalinin, according to Minatom Minister Mikhailov.
11/9/95: POWER PRODUCTION DROPS TWICE
During the month of October the production of power fell
twice due to equipment malfunctions.
6/28/95: PLANT TO ENHANCE SECURITY
Gennadiy Vinogradov, chief of directorate at the Kalinin
nuclear power plant, stated that a project for security system enhancement
is being conducted at the plant. The military, internal affairs agencies,
and heads of local administration are involved in this project.
1/95: KALININ SIMULATORS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
It was reported that there are simulators under construction
at Kalinin Units 1, 2, and 3.
1994: SAFETY AT KALININ NPP
According to Bellona, more than 120 incidents at Kalinin
NPP were reported between 1990 and 1994. Bellona did not provide
the INES level of these incidents, but noted that safety concerns have
led Gosatomnadzor to limit the operation of Units 1 and 2 to 90 percent
capacity.
10/3/94: KALININ PLANT PERSONNEL SHUT DOWN UNIT
1
Unit 1 was reportedly shut down by plant personnel following
a problem with an oil filter connection. The unit was brought back on-line
once the problem was solved.
6/5/94: REACTOR AUTOMATICALLY SHUT DOWN
A safety feature at the Kalinin reactor shut the reactor
down. The Ministry of Emergency Situations announced the reactor's shut
down, but provided no further details.
9/93: KALININ UNIT 3 OPERATIONAL IN 3 YEARS
Reports estimated that Unit 3 would be made operational within
the next three years.
12/28/92: KALININ UNIT 3 OPERATIONAL BY 1995
Unit 3 (VVER-1000 reactor) is to be completed and put into
operation by the year 1995 in accordance with Decree No. 1026 of 12/28/92,
provided that the findings of the environmental impact study are positive.
Last updated 16 November 2000
For more recent developments,
see the Nuclear
Power Developments file.
Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: cristina.chuen@miis.edu
This material is produced independently for NTI
by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the
Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has
not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers,
employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.
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