LOCATION: Prypyat
TYPE: RBMK-1000
UNITS: Four (All units have been
shut down)
Unit 1: initial criticality 8/77 (operational 5/78)
Unit 2: initial criticality 11/78 (operational 5/79)
Unit 3: initial criticality 6/81 (operational 6/82)
Unit 4: initial criticality 11/83 (operational 12/83)
["World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1995," Nuclear
Engineering International, p. 33.] {Entered 1/17/97 MEW} POWER: Unit 1: 700 MWe
Unit 2: 700 MWe
Unit 3: 925 MWe
FUEL: Enriched to three levels: 1.8, 2.0 and 2.4 percent
According to Andriy Glukhov, 1.8 percent enriched fuel has
not been used for more than one year and is currently only being stored
in spent fuel ponds in reactor halls and in an AFR SFSF (Away From Reactors
Spent Fuel Storage Facility), which is located on-site. More
on spent fuel and radioactive waste. [Correspondence with Andriy Glukhov, Head of the Safeguards
and Safe Transportation Department in the UkrSCNRS, January 1995.] STATUS: Unit 1: shut down on 11/30/96.[1]
Unit 2: A fire at Unit 2 resulted in its shutdown in 10/91.[2] More on safety at Chornobyl.
Unit 3: Shut down on 15
December 2000.[3]
Unit 4: destroyed in the 4/86 disaster.[4]
Sources: [1] Ann MacLachlan, "Ukraine Shuts Chernobyl-1, Fulfilling
Promise To West," Nucleonics Week, 5 December 1996, p. 14. [2] Peter Coryn, "Ukraine: Restoration Continues at Chornobyl-2," Nucleonics
Week, 4 May 1995, p. 20. [3] "15 dekabrya v 13.15 ostanovlen
reaktor tretego energobloka ChAES," UNIAN, No. 50, 11-17 December 2000. [4] Chrystyna Lapychak, "Ukraine To Shut Down Aging Chornobyl
Reactor," OMRI Daily Digest, 25 June 1996.{Updated 3/23/01
RG} ADMINISTRATION: Plant Manager: Vitaliy Tovstonohov.
Tovstonohov (or Tolstonohov), the former chief engineer at the plant, replaced
Serhiy Parashin in May 1998.
["Chernobylskoy radiatsii dali novogo
direktora," Russkiy telegraf online edition, http://www.mosinfo.ru:8080/news/rtf/index.html,
6 May 1998.] {Updated 5/11/98 SP}
COMMENTS: Construction was reportedly halted on a fifth and sixth unit
after the 1986 accident. Units 1 and 3 were shut down in 1991 after an
accident at the similar Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant (at Sosnovyy Bor)
in Russia, but were restarted in December and October of 1992, respectively.
The restart decision was taken against the advice of the Ukrainian State
Committee for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (UkrSCNRS--Derzhkomatom). UkrSCNRS
managed to secure the down-rating of Unit 1 to 80 percent of its nominal
(gross) capacity of 1000 MWe. In accordance with Ukraine's vow to the G-7
to shut down the entire Chornobyl NPP and
to fulfill the requirements of the Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) signed in 1995, Unit 1 was shut down on 30 November 1996, leaving Unit 3 as the only
unit operational until it was finally shut down on 15
December 2000.[6]
Sources: [1] "Chornobyl Reactors Will Never Operate Again, Sherbak
Says," Nucleonics Week, 5/28/92, p. 1, 7-8. [2] William C. Potter, "The Future of Nuclear Power and Nuclear
Safety in the Former Soviet Union," Nuclear News, 3/93, pp. 61-67. [3] CISNP interview with Ukrainian nuclear official, 8/94. [4] Chrystyna Lapychak, "Ukrainian Experts Devise Plan for
Chornobyl Shutdown," OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 1, No. 94, 5/16/95. [5] Alex Brall, "Ukraine Proposes Schedule For Shutting Chornobyl
Units," Nucleonics Week, 6/1/95, pp. 7-8. {Entered 1/17/97, MEW} [6] Kirill Razumovskiy, "Dlya etogo
atomnuyu stantsiyu nado snova otkryt," Kommersant, 14 December 2000. {Updated 3/23/01 RG}
