During the 6th Nuclear Power Asia conference held at Kuala Lumpur, Sergey Svetlov, Deputy Chief Engineer of VVER Division, Atomproekt (a ROSATOM Corporation subsidiary) shared that stress tests made after Fukushima incident have confirmed the safety of VVER NPP designs and the ability for these reactors to withstand catastrophic external events. With the first VVER reactor built in 1960s, these reactors are among the most widely used reactors in the world.

“The AES-2006 is the latest evolution in the long line of Russia’s VVER plants. The main performances, reliability and safe operation of reactor incorporated into the design, are proved by the VVER-type NPP operating experience”, said Mr. Svetlov.

Development of a yet further modernized design that meets Russian, European and international requirements for new NPPs, the design story behind AES-2006 is to apply maximum use of proven technologies, reduce costs and construction time without substantially changing the basic configuration of the nuclear steam supply system and at the same time increasing safety in case of beyond design basis accidents.

Mr. Svetlov shared, “Safety has always been a key topic in the development of nuclear power plants. The safety principles embodied in the AES-2006 is unique compared to older reactors in the market. Taking learnings from older designs and major incidents from Chernobyl and Fukushima, the AES-2006 deploys a full range of active and passive systems to provide fundamental safety functions. Its safety system can handle complicated situations that go beyond the traditional design basis accidents including protection from external impacts such as seismic loads, aircrafts crash, hurricanes and tornados, snowstorms and external explosions”.

The first AES-2006 units are currently under construction in Russia with two units in Sosnovyi Bor and Novovoronezh. Furthermore, ROSATOM has projects underway to build four units in Turkey, two in Vietnam, two in Belarus, two in Hungary, and one in Finland.