Rosenergoatom to start up Beloyarsk NPP’s fast-neutron reactor in September 2013

DATELINE: YEKATERINBURG July 26

Rosenergoatom plans to start up the BN-800 fast-neutron reactor at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant in September 2013 and expects to begin commercial power production in 2014, the company’s Deputy General Director Oleg Sarayev told Interfax.

“There are no doubts about the launch of the BN-800 from the point of view of fuel supply. We are now planning to launch this reactor, namely to start it up in September 2013,” he said.

Initially, the new power unit at the Beloyarsk NPP was expected to be commissioned in 2012, however, this deadline was postponed due to the sequestered financing of the project in 2008-2009, he said.

“Nevertheless, we have full confidence that start-up will be possible in 2013. Both full capacity and operation at the industrial level are slated for 2014,” Sarayev said.

By now, the reactor construction has been funded by approximately 37-40% of the total investment. The total cost of the BN-800 is estimated at 67 billion rubles.

China has showed interest in the BN-800 project. Currently talks continue under a contract for construction of such reactors in China, and an intergovernmental agreement regarding such a project could be signed before the end of 2010, he added.

The company continues to develop the BN-1200 reactor with a 1.2- gigawatt capacity, Rosenergoatom’s Advisor to the General Director Nikolai Oshkanov said.

The project is due to be completed in 2014 and licensing will take about another two years, he said.

The cost of this project will be comparable to the price of conventional NPPs, he said. Most likely, the Beloyarsk NPP will also serve as a platform for building the BN-1200.

The Beloyarsk NPP is the only power plant in Russia and worldwide that uses a fast-neutron reactor, the BN-600. The plant is currently used as a site for building another analogous reactor, the BN-800, that has a higher capacity.

Source: Interfax-AVN