A scheduled outage for repair, maintenance and upgrading has been completed at unit 1 of Russia’s Smolensk NPP. The RBMK reactor, which began operation in 1982, has had its operating life extended until 2027.
“Based on the results of the repair campaign, all planned measures, including those aimed at increasing the safety and reliability of the equipment of unit 1 were completed in full,” said Smolensk Director Pavel Lubensky. “The second stage of work on resource characteristic management (URKh – Upravlenio Resursnimi Kharakteristikami) of the reactor core was successfully completed. Thanks to past experience, as well as the well-coordinated and responsible work of all repair participants, it was possible to significantly optimise this process without compromising safety and quality requirements.”
During the outage, more than 600 repairs were carried out. In addition to routine maintenance, work was carried out to modernise and extend the service life of the equipment, including URKh work on 93 cells, replacement of pulse safety valves on reduced steam pipelines, and modernisation of the electric pump control system. In addition, the first and second generators, high-pressure cylinders, generator exciters and other items were repaired. More than 1,500 people were involved in the work, including Smolensk NPP production and repair personnel and engineering support and employees from Atomenergoremont JSC and Prolog LLC.
“Due to the use of Rosatom production system tools, clear work planning and production analysis, as well as the use of specialised equipment and robotic equipment, it was possible to significantly increase speed of the work to manage resource characteristics compared with the first stage, which took place in 2023. Instead of 21 days allotted for this work, we managed to complete it in 17 days,” said Andrey Piskov, Deputy Chief Engineer for Repairs. All three power units are now in operation at the Smolensk NPP.
