Tuesday, August 16 2016 10:49

ArmInfo. The commissioning of the innovative power unit of Generation III+ at Novovoronezh NPP opens up a new page in development of the global nuclear power engineering, according to Aram Gevorgyan, the former head of the Nuclear Power Department of the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, deputy dean of the Power Engineering Department at the National Polytechnic University of Armenia.

Gevorgyan says that the power unit of Generation III+ with a capacity of 1200 MW is the most innovative in the world. This demonstrates that Russia is in the lead in nuclear power engineering. He stresses that the power unit is safe from all points of view. Its lifespan (60 years) makes it economically expedient.  Unfortunately, he says, construction of such a power unit in Armenia is unattainable luxury. "Notwithstanding the good specifications of the Russian power unit, the possibility of construction of a similar power unit in Armenia is extremely low, because the 1200 MW capacity is too big for our small country," the expert says.

To recall, on 5 August 2016, the innovative power unit of Generation III+ at Novovoronezh NPP was connected to the national grid and produced the first 240 MW of electricity.

"This event is our great victory, which crowns a huge amount of work in installation and adjustment of equipment, and complex process operations. It can be stated that all works were done reliably and safely.  The operating personnel clearly understands the process, equipment operates safety and reliably," Andrey Petrov, General Director of Rosenergoatom, said.  In turn, President of NIAEP Valery Limarenko pointed out: "ROSATOM is the world's largest supplier of nuclear power plants in the global market. Today, we have made our positions stronger. This opens new opportunities for building up our presence in the global market." 

The innovative power units of Generation III+ possess improved performance parameters. They are absolutely safe in operation and fully meet the IAEA's post-Fukushima requirements. Their feature is a large number of passive safety systems, which are able to function even in case of the plant blackout and without operator's intervention. So Unit 6 of Novovoronezh NPP uses passive heat removal system from the reactor, hydrogen recombiners and core catcher, which are unique and have no similarities worldwide. At present, Generation III+ power units are built in the USA and France. Unit 6 of Novovoronezh NPP, however, has become the first nuclear power unit in the world pertaining to the new generation which approached the first power.