Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor on 22 February issued a licence to Beloyarsk NPP which technically will allow continued operation of closed power units 1 and 2 with the AMB-100 and AMB-200 supercritical water reactors. The units were shut down in the 1980s, but until used fuel can be removed and sent for reprocessing, they are classified as in operation “in stopped mode”. The 10-year licence will allow Beloyarsk NPP to continue the necessary work at these units to prepare them for final decommissioning. Unit 1 operated from 1964 to 1981 producing 8.73TWh and unit 2 from 1967 to 1989 producing 22.24TWh.
The Beloyarsk NPP, which was commissioned in April 1964 currently has two operating units – one with a BN-600 fast neutron reactor, which started up in 1980 Beloyarsk 3) and one with a BN-800 fast reactor, which started up in 2015. These are the world's largest units with fast neutron reactors and the only ones operating on a commercial basis.
