Novovoronezh nuclear power plant

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Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is an operating nuclear power plant in Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia.

Project Details

Table 1: Unit-level project details for Novovoronezh nuclear power plant

Unit name	Status	Commissioning year	Retirement year	Nameplate capacity	Reactor type	Model	Owner	Operator
1-1	Retired	1964	1988	210 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-210	Ministry Of Medium Machine Building Of The USSR (Minsredmash)	Rosenergoatom
1-2	Retired	1970	1990	365 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-365	Ministry Of Medium Machine Building Of The USSR (Minsredmash)	Rosenergoatom
1-3	Retired	1972	2016	417 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-179	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
1-4	Operating	1973	2032 (planned)	417 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-179	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
1-5	Operating	1981	2040 (planned)	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-187	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
2-1	Operating	2017	–	1180 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-392M	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
2-2	Operating	2019	–	1181 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-392M	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
2-3	Announced	2036 (planned)	–	1200 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER-1200	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom
2-4	Announced	–	–	1200 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER-1200	Rosatom	Rosenergoatom

Table 2: Additional unit-level timeline details for Novovoronezh nuclear power plant

Unit name	Construction start	First criticality (more info)	First grid connection	Commercial operation	Retirement date
1-1	July 1, 1957	December 17, 1963	September 30, 1964	December 31, 1964	February 16, 1988
1-2	June 1, 1964	December 23, 1969	December 27, 1969	April 14, 1970	August 29, 1990
1-3	July 1, 1967	December 22, 1971	December 27, 1971	June 29, 1972	December 25, 2016
1-4	July 1, 1967	December 25, 1972	December 28, 1972	March 24, 1973	–
1-5	March 1, 1974	April 30, 1980	May 31, 1980	February 20, 1981	–
2-1	June 24, 2008	May 20, 2016	August 5, 2016	February 27, 2017	–
2-2	July 12, 2009	March 22, 2019	May 1, 2019	October 31, 2019	–

Table 3: Additional unit-level capacity details for Novovoronezh nuclear power plant

(Read more about nuclear capacity definitions.)

Unit name	Reference net capacity	Design net capacity	Thermal capacity
1-1	197 MW	197 MW	760 MWt
1-2	336 MW	336 MW	1320 MWt
1-3	385 MW	385 MW	1375 MWt
1-4	385 MW	385 MW	1375 MWt
1-5	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
2-1	1100 MW	1114 MW	3200 MWt
2-2	1101 MW	1114 MW	3200 MWt

Location

Table 4: Unit-level location details for Novovoronezh nuclear power plant

Unit name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
1-1	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
1-2	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
1-3	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
1-4	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
1-5	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
2-1	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
2-2	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
2-3	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)
2-4	Liskinsky District, Voronezh Oblast, Russia	51.26677, 39.2151 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the nuclear power plant:

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Background

The Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is located on the bank of the river Don, 3.5km from the city of Novovoronezh and 45 km south of the city of Voronezh. It is Russia's first nuclear power plant with VVER type reactors (pressurized water reactors).

The power plant is the largest electricity producer in the Voronezh region. It provides 90% of the needs of the Voronezh region in electrical energy and 91% of the needs of the city of Novovoronezh in heat.

In 2022 the nuclear power plant produced 26.5 billion kWh.

Sponsor

The Novovoronezh nuclear power plant is owned by Rosatom and is operated by one of its group companies Rosenergoatom.

Phase 1 Units

In 1988, after more than 20 years of operation, unit No. 1-1 was decommissioned, followed by unit No. 1-2 in 1990. Nuclear fuel was removed from these power units, they were transferred to a nuclear-safe state.

Unit 1-3 received a 15-year licence extension to 2016 and in December 2016, it was finally shut down.

Unit 1-4 received a licence extension to 2017 and then given a further 15-year extension, using parts from the shutdown unit 1-3. In December 2017, large-scale modernization work began at unit 1-4 and in January 2019, the unit was brought to 100% capacity after a major overhaul and equipment modernization. As a result, unit 1-4 is expected to operate for 60 years in total, according to Rosatom.

Units 1-3 and 1-4 were the first VVER-440 units to have their operational life extended by annealing the reactor pressure vessels. In 2018 the emergency core cooling system of unit 1-4 was supplemented so that a drop in primary circuit pressure will automatically release water with boric acid into the core.

The investment project to extend the operating life of unit 1-5 was launched in 2010, this being a prototype of the second-generation VVER-1000 design. The initial estimate of the project cost was RUR 1.66 billion ($52 million) but this eventually became RUR 14 billion ($450 million). The 12 months of work from September 2010 included the total replacement of the reactor control system and 80% of electrical equipment, and fitting upgraded safety systems, in particular, those of emergency core cooling and feedwater, and emergency power supply. In September 2011, the unit was put back into operation again and its service life has increased by 26 years, according to Rosatom. However, another international source refers to an increase of life of only 15 years to 2025.

The Russian government's energy development programme up to 2035, last updated in December 2022, anticipates that Unit 1-4 will be out of operation by 2031, while Unit 1-5 will still be in operation at the end of 2035. A media article from December 2022 refers to the planned retirement of the Soviet era Units 1-4 and 1-5 by the end of the 2030s.

Phase 2 Units

The two units of Phase 2 are referred to as Units 1 and 2 of Novovoronezh-2 nuclear power plant or Units 6 and 7.

Construction of two new generation 3+ power units 2-1 and 2-2 began in 2007. During the construction of unit 2-1, 161 buildings and structures were built, as well as an evaporative cooling tower with a height of 172 meters. About 430 thousand cubic meters of concrete, 49.7 thousand tonnes of reinforcement were laid, more than 12,500 tonnes of technological pipelines and 28.5 tonnes of metal structures were installed, more than 6,500 km of cables were laid and 18 thousand tonnes of equipment were installed.

Unit 2-2 is identical to Unit 2-1. The units have 60-year operating lifetime expectancy.

Unit 2-1 was initially expected to be commissioned in 2015, with unit 2-2 following a year later. The general designer Atomenergoproekt told the contractors in December 2014 to accelerate work, but in May 2015 a delay of one year in commissioning both units was announced, due to low power demand. In September 2015 a pre-startup peer review was conducted for unit 2-1 under World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) auspices. Rostechnadzor issued the operating licence for unit 2-1 in March 2016, and fuel loading commenced. It was connected to the grid in August 2016. Unit 2-2 was due to enter commercial operation in January 2019, but in February 2018 Rosenergoatom announced that it would slow construction in response to slowing demand and pressure from power consumers to reduce rate increases. Fuel loading was completed in February 2019, with grid connection in May, and commercial operation in October 2019.

The general designer of the units was Atomenergoproekt JSC, the general contractor was the ASE Group of Companies, the general designer of the reactor plant was OKB Gidropress OJSC. Suppliers of the turbine hall, reactor plant, melt localization device and other components are Izhora Plants (for reactor pressure vessels), Power Machines (for high speed turbine generators), Energomash-Atommash, EM Alliance-Atom, AEM-Technologies, ZiO-Podolsk (for advanced steam generators). New TVS-2M was used as fuel.

In 2016, the cost of construction of Units 2-1 and 2-2 was estimated by Rosatom to be 235 billion roubles (about US$ 3.6 billion, based on average 2016 exchange rate). Another source refers to the total cost of US$ 5 billion.

Announced Units 2-8 and 2-9

In early 2021 Rosatom announced the plan to build additional new units 2-3 and 2-4 (or Units 8 and 9), each with 1,200 MW of capacity.

An article from December 2022 (following the press conference by the director of the power plant) stated that a land plot was being selected for the construction of Units 2-3 and 2-4. In 2023, it was planned to include part of the land of the adjacent Kashirsky and Ostrogozhsky districts in Novovoronezh. In the meantime, Rosatom has to decide on the type of two new power units: they can be built on the model of Units 2-1/2-2 or based on the last power units of Leningrad nuclear power plant. Commissioning of Unit 2-3 is planned for 2036.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of global nuclear power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Nuclear Power Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.