The liquid release over the open reactor has been successfully completed at the innovative 2nd VVER-1200 power block of the Leningrad NPP-2, Rosenergoatom, a division of state-controlled Rosatom said.
The team has rinsed the pressurizer’s surge line, the pipelines for four emergency core cooling system’s accumulators, and the protective safety system’s pipelines. Liquid release over the open reactor is the first one in a set of equipment and technological systems trials held at the power block following the completion of the major construction and installation activities.
According to Alexander Belyaev, the chief engineer at the Leningrad NPP-2, the verification of the pipelines connecting the reactor facility’s major equipment and the safety systems’ pipelines related to the primary circuit has been fully completed, and the liquid release operation has confirmed that the pipelines are properly assembled, passable, and clean.
The team of the Leningrad NPP has a lot coming, including a few major operations at the pre-commissioning stage: the reactor building’s double containment trials, cold and hot trials, verification of the reactor facility’s primary equipment. After proving that all power block’s system are completed properly and can operate as designed, in a reliable and safe fashion, the team will start uploading fresh nuclear fuel in 2020, thus starting the physical launch of the Leningrad NPP 2nd VVER-1200 power block.