This file is no longer being updated.  For information on developments in the nuclear power industry, please see the Nuclear Power Developments section.

LOCATION: Sosnovyy Bor, near Leningrad NPP

TYPE: VVER-640 (also called V-407)

["Go-ahead for New Generation Russian Reactors," Nucnet, 3 July 1996.]

UNITS: 1

CURRENT STATUS:

Construction has begun for the Center. While in 1996 the reactor was expected to go on line in 2002 or 2003,[1] as of  January 1999, the expected reactor completion date is 2005.[2]

Sources:

[1] Veronika Romanenkova, "Reaktor kak uchebnoye posobiye," Segodnya, 12 September 1996, p. 9.

[2] "Russia Invests $100 Mln in New Gulf of Finland Reactor," Interfax, 7 January 1999; in "'Interfax Business Report' for January 10, 1999, Sunday Issue 2," FBIS-SOV-99-007. {updated 11/4/99 CC}

COMMENTS:

According to a 1996 report in Segodnya, the crisis in the nuclear industry was creating fewer problems for the Center's construction than might have been expected. A Rosenergoatom representative stated that various enterprises were paying off their debts to Rosenergoatom with construction materials and equipment, which were in turn used to build the Center. The reactor is expected to remain operable for 50-60 years, rather than the usual 25-30.[1] Kommersant-daily reported on16 August 1996 that construction had begun, and that work done jointly with Siemens Kraftwerke Union (which is participating in a number of aspects of the project) would be financed through sales of LEU on the European market. [3] In January 1999, Interfax reported that 5 percent of the cost would be funded by the Russian government, with the rest of the money coming from Rosenergoatom and foreign credits.[5]  The reactor was included in the 1999 Federal Targeted Investment Program.[6] Loan talks were under way with Britain and Germany. The Aleksandrov Scientific Research and Technology Institute is responsible for reactor development, while the Kurchatov Institute is doing most of the research work on the project.  Hardware is being provided by Izhorskiye Zavody, Leningrad Metal Plant, Elektrosila, Kirov Works and other major engineering firms in and around St. Petersburg.  As of January 1999, $100 million had already been invested in the $1.05 billion reactor.[5] Also located at the center will be the following facilities: a model for testing heat exchange, a model for studying meltdown situations, and a large-scale assembly for training personnel for the prototype plant and other proposed VVER-640 plants. [1,4]

Sources:

[1] Veronika Romanenkova, "Reaktor kak uchebnoye posobiye," Segodnya, 12 September 1996, p. 9.

[2] Ann MacLachlan, "Russian Plant Workers Talk Strike as Government Fails to Pay Debts," Nucleonics Week, 3 October 1996,  pp. 7-8.

[3] Ivan Cheberko, "The Russian Reactor Has Received the Germans' Blessing," Kommersant Daily, 16 August 1996, in "Minatom, Siemens to Build New VVER Reactor," FBIS-SOV-96-185-S. {Entered 11/26/96 LBN}

[4] Vitaly Ermolaev, "VVER-640: Capitalising on passive features," Nuclear Engineering International, October 1996, pp. 17-19.{Entered 12/4/96}

[5] "Russia Invests $100 Mln in New Gulf of Finland Reactor," Interfax, 7 January 1999; in "'Interfax Business Report' for January 10, 1999, Sunday Issue 2," FBIS-SOV-99-007.

[6] Aleksey Yablokov, "Wasteful Poverty," Novyye Izvestiya, 27 January 1999; in "Budget Hit as 'Wasteful,' 'Militarized,'" FBIS Document FTS19990129000463.

 {Updated 11/2/99 CC}

 

FACILITY DEVELOPMENTS (For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Power Developments file):

 

12/27/97: GREENPEACE SAYS NEW VVER CONSTRUCTION VIOLATES RUSSIAN LAW

On 26 December 1997 at Minatom headquarters in Moscow, Greenpeace held demonstrations against the construction of a new VVER-640 reactor in Sosnovyy Bor.[1, 2]  The environmental group accused Minatom of breaking environmental laws by failing to obtain an environmental assessment of the reactor project, by constructing the reactor near a large body of water, and by locating it near a highly populated area.[2]

Sources:

[1] Mariya Bronzova, "Gruppa aktivistov "Grinpis" zaderzhana militsiyey," Nezavisimaya gazeta online edition, http://news.mosinfo.ru/news/ng/, No. 244,  27 December 1997.

[2] "Minatom ne schitayet nuzhnym," Zelenyy mir, No. 3, 1998.{entered 10/12/99 CC}

Last updated 3 February 2000
For more recent developments, see the Nuclear Power Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact 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 © 2002 by MIIS.

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