Russia wants to extend life of Sosnovyi Bor nuclear plant through 2026

Two new nuclear plants planned for south shore of Gulf of Finland

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By Heli Saavalainen
     
      There is a drill underway at the training simulator for the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. A siren wails, and lights flash.
      In a computer room made to look like the the plant's control room, personnel are being trained for dealing with an emergency. In the imaginary danger situation, the main pump which cools the reactor has shut down. Output must be decreased, so that the cooling system will function with little water.
      Instructor Dmitri Kaliayenkov watches the monitors, presses switches, and shouts instructions. The output decreases, and in a couple of minutes the danger of an explosion is over.
      In the real control room things are calmer. The number-one reactor has been shut down for maintenance, during which time promised repairs are being made to fix problems that have been noticed in the operation of the power plant, to inspect the welding seams of the pipes, and to improve security systems.
     
The modernisation is needed, because the reactors are at the end of their life cycle. Nevertheless, their use is being extended by many years.
      According to Valery Lebedev, Director-General of the power plant, the lifespans of all four units are to be extended so that each of them would work for 45 years. This means that some of the present reactors would be in operation until 2026.
      Lebedev insists that the installation is still as reliable as any nuclear power plant. "Perhaps more so: since 1986 we have made very many improvements to upgrade safety", he says.
      Russia is also planning to build more nuclear generating capacity. Two new units would be built in Sosnovyi Bor to eventually replace the present reactors.
      The goal is that the new VVER 1500 type pressurised-water reactors would be taken into use in 2013 and 2015.
     
Building new reactors and shutting down old ones would be a positive development, says Heikki Reponen, head of the unit of expert service of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority of Finland.
      "The plant is safer than before, but there is still room for improvement", he says.
      Continuing operations would also require considerable changes in units three and four, even though their security systems are better than those of the oldest units.
      Reponen feels that the greatest shortcomings of the old units are that the reactor lacks a pressure-resistant protective building that would contain the materials that would be released in a possible accident.
      "These were in the plans for the new security structures, but they could not be built, so they were left out", Reponen says.
      "The most precarious pipes have already been replaced, but there could still be places where a leak could take place. Then steam would get out of some vent."
     
The environmental organisation Green World feels that the old installation should be shut down. "It is not safe", says the organisation's chairman Oleg Bodrov.
      In his view, the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel on the shore of the Gulf of Finland is a serious risk for the whole Baltic Sea environment.
      "Spent fuel has been kept on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in leaking temporary storage", he complains.
      Director-General Lebedev insists that the storage facilities are in order. "There are several measuring points around the waste building, and no readings that exceed the limits have been measured", he says.
      "Russia's Greens do not seem to have accurate information, and even if we give it to them, they don't believe us", Lebedev says, downplaying the criticism. "The criticism is based on emotional reactions".
     
The closed nuclear city also hides an extensive drug problem behind its gates. It is estimated that this city, which is about the size of the Finnish city of Lappeenranta, has up to 1,000 active users of heroin. Last year 1,230 crimes were recorded, 30-40% of which were committed to finance a drug habit.
      Lebedev insists that there is no drug or alcohol problem in the nuclear power plant itself. "The personnel undergo medical examinations always before a work shift. Anyone who is caught using drugs is sacked immediately."
     
Employees in the control room of the first unit inspect the emergency shutdown system. "Everything in order", says production manager Dmitri Razbash.
      In his view, the security systems of the power plant have improved considerably from the time when he started work at the plant 25 years ago.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 14.5.2005

More on this subject:
 BACKGROUND: Oldest Chernobyl-type reactors operate on Gulf of Finland shore
 FACTFILE: Sosnovyi Bor - a closed city

HELI SAAVALAINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
heli.saavalainen@hs.fi