Nuclear Energy News

Unit 6 at Zaporozhe Nuclear Power Plant has reached nominal capacity

Kiev, 6 July, Interfax-Ukraine. Unit 6 at Zaporozhe Nuclear Power Plant has reached its nominal capacity of 1,000 MW after a stop, as announced by Energoatom National Nuclear Power Generation Company. The unit was stopped to check the system of reactor control and safety on 5 July and switched back to the power system the same day.

Also on 5 July, Unit 1 of Rivno Nuclear Power Plant was switched to the national power pool system after a medium planned maintenance of Turbogenerator 2. The unit having a nominal capacity of 400 MW currently runs at 215 MW while planned maintenance of Turbogenerator 1 is in progress. The radiation situation at the Plant site is normal.

The Ukraine's five nuclear power plants use 11 VVER-1000 units, 2 VVER-440 units (at Rivno) and 1 RMBK unit (Chernobyl) whose total capacity is 12.8 GW, or 24.6 % of the overall capacity available to the country. Unit 1 at Chernobyl is now being decommissioned.

Ukraine's Ministry of Environment considers radioactive dust to be the major threat from the Cover Object

Kiev, 27 May, Interfax-Ukraine. Radioactive dust poses the major threat from the Cover Object (the "sarcophagus" built over Unit 4 destroyed by the accident of 1986) at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant, stated Georgii Kopchinskii, Chair, Advisory Board on Ionizing Radiation Sources and Unit Safety, at a seminar on nuclear energy in Ukraine. About 40 tons radioactive dust has estimatedly accumulated under the Cover, and the amount is "ever increasing". Should the Cover top collapse, the dust may be scattered as far as 1,000 km. According to Mr. Kopchinskii, "no global effects" are to be expected, although "personnel at the Plant will get dangerous exposures in a accident like this." He ruled out "practically any possibility" of a chain reaction under the Cover. The probability that a spontaneous chain reaction leading to an explosion will occur was said to be 0.0001 %.

Head of Russian Ministry of Nuclear Energy announces support to projects for nuclear waste recycling

Moscow, 6 July, Interfax. Evgenii Adamov, Russian Federation Minister for Nuclear Energy, declared that projects are desirable for treatment and reuse of nuclear wastes generated at nuclear submarines and VVER-440 type power reactors. At a recent meeting with the management of International Science and Technology Center, he noted that the ISTC was successful in involving Russia's defense scientists in conversion programs and that the focus of nuclear R&D was being shifted from military to civilian projects. He stressed, however, that the actions taken by the ISTC so far were not sufficient to embrace Russia's unique science and technology potential. Also, linking mechanisms enabling transition from ISTC projects to implementation programs were needed. Mr. Adamov stated that the issue of the future of nuclear energy had not been resolved within the framework of the ISTC program. In reference to off-limits towns, the minister suggested that new production units be set up at a quicker pace at the off-limits territories. The ISTC program currently includes about 600 R&D projects totaling to $175 M. They involve more than 21,000 researchers and other professionals, mainly employees of Russia's military-industrial complex.