Russia's state-owned nuclear power corporation Rosatom said Thursday that the Unit 4 Beloyarsk reactor had reached 100 percent full power for the first time. The reactor, a BN-800 Fast Neutron Reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation later this year.
“Thus begins the procedure of comprehensive testing of the unit at its rated power,” said plant operator Rosenergoatom in a statement. “This procedure is a major and final condition in preparation for the delivery of power in commercial operation.”
Tests are expected to last at least 15 days. In that time, the unit must prove itself to able to run consistently at full power in accordance with design parameters, Rosengeratom said, adding: “Without deviation.”
Once tests are complete, the operators are required to apply for formal permission from regulators to initiate the power plant's commercial operations.
The BN-800 reactor was brought to minimum controlled power for the first time in June 2014 – another way of saying it achieved criticality. However, in December 2014, Rosengeratom announced that it would further develop a customized nuclear fuel for the unit. It shut down and re-gained criticality in August 2015 and again in November 2015, eventually being connected to the grid in on 10 December 2015.
Since early this year, during its ascent to full power, Beloyarks-4 has generated more than 1.3 billion kWh of electricity. It is planned to produce 3.5 billion kWh during the whole of 2016.
The BN-800 Beloyarsk Unit 4 has a capacity rating of 789 MWe. It is fueled by a mixture of uranium and plutonium oxides arranged to produce new fuel material as it burns. Its capacity exceeds that of the world's second most powerful fast reactor – the 560 MWe BN-600 Beloyarsk Unit 3.