Kola Nuclear Power Plant
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| Kola Nuclear Power Plant | |
| Data | |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Operator | Rosenergoatom |
| Built | 1970 |
| Start of commercial operation | December 28, 1973 |
| Reactors | |
| Reactors active | 4 (1760 MW) |
| Power | |
| Capacity | MW |
| Total power generation in 2006 | 9,846 GWh |
| Average annual generation (last 5 yrs) | 9,358 GWh |
| Net generation | 275,825 GWh |
| Other details | |
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As of July 25, 2007
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The Kola Nuclear Power Plant, or Kola NPP, is a nuclear power plant in Northern Russia.
Contents |
[edit] History
The No. 1 and 2 reactors at the KNPP went online in 1973 and 1974, respectively, and are part of Russia’s first generation of reactors (the VVER 440/230 type). They were designed to work for 30 years. Correspondingly, they were slated to be shut down in 2003 and 2004.
However, the shutdown did not happen. Instead, the operational life spans of the reactors were extended, with a few upgrades. The license for their five-year operation extensions, granted by the Russian Federation's civilian nuclear regulator Gosatomnadzor (FSETAN’s predecessor), were issued without conducting an obligatory state environmental impact study. Conducting such federal level studies is mandated by the law "On Environmental Impact Studies" in Article 11.
The first extension for the old reactors was issued in summer 2003, almost precisely after former Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Andrei Malyshev was installed as Gosatomnadzor’s chief. He replaced Yury Vishnevsky at this post. Vishnevsky had been an outspoken critic of the former Ministry of Atomic Energy, now known as the Federal Agency for Atomic energy, or Rosatom.
In April 2005, the Murmansk Regional Prosecutor issued a recommendation to annul the violations surrounding the reactor life-span extensions and force regulatory bodies and Rosenergoatom, Russian’s nuclear power plant operational conglomerate, to carry out the environmental impact studies. But none of this took place.
The Murmansk Prosecutors again ordered the state structures to fulfill the earlier order, but was again unsuccessful. In the near future, the Regional Prosecutor is expected to send documentation on the case to the Prosecutor General in Moscow after a possible court petition regarding the non-compliance with the prosecutors’ recommendations.
Nature and Youth and Bellona ’s “Environment and Rights” magazine first drew the attention of prosecutors to the illegality of prolonging the life-spans of the reactors in 2004.
[edit] Today
This nuclear plant produces about a half of all Murmansk Oblast's energy. It based on the same types of reactor which used in the Finland NPP Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant which conforms to the Finnish regulatory requirements that are commonly considered to be the most stringent in the world.
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