Russia Shuts Down Nuclear Plant Reactor Unit After Malfunction

Nov 16, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russia-shuts-down-nuclear-reactor-malfunction-1844413

Russia has reported the shutdown of a unit at a nuclear power plant after turbine blades broke.

Rosenergoatom, which runs Russia’s nuclear power stations, said it was not clear what caused the blades to malfunction at the Leningrad nuclear power plant west of St Petersburg on Sunday.

“The main thing now is to understand the reason for the destruction of the blades. This is a new phenomenon,” Alexander Shutikov, head of Rosenergoatom, told Reuters. Repairs should be completed by December 22, he said.

The unit where the malfunction occurred was built in 2018 with a next-generation VVER 1200, a pressurised water reactor, according to the news agency.

Russia is building units of this type at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey. They are also planned for the Paks-2 plant in Hungary. Russia has already supplied such units to Belarus.

The blades that failed were part of a 1,200-megawatt high-speed steam turbine, Shutikov told Reuters.

The turbines are produced by Power Machines, owned by Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov who was sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turbines of the same type had operated without problems since 2016 at four power units, Power Machines told Reuters.

The company said it was taking steps to restart the affected unit as soon as possible and working with specialists to investigate the causes. “Based on the results, conclusions will be drawn and compensatory measures will be determined,” the company said.

Newsweek has contacted Rosenergoatom and Power Machines for further comment via email.

Earlier this week, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said Hungary needed to reduce its reliance on Russian energy because it left the country open to influence from Russia.

Speaking during Politico’s Sustainability Future Week summit on Tuesday, Simson said it was regrettable that Hungary was proceeding with construction of the Paks-2 nuclear reactor. The work is reportedly being financed with a 10-billion euro ($11.3 billion) loan from a Russian state bank.

“Our clear request to them is that like other member states, who are still using Russian technology, that nuclear fleet, they have to prepare a plan how to diversify,” Simson said.

The European Union and other Western leaders have largely shunned Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with him in October.

Orbán has been keen to maintain ties with Moscow—on which Hungary is highly dependant for natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel—and has been critical of Western sanctions against Russia.

November 18, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, safety