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    • 18.09.2023
    Strategy. According to Rosatom Chief Alexey Likhachev, Rosatom has long been present in Russia’s Far East and is willing to expand its projects in the region. Speaking at a session of the Eastern Economic Forum, he highlighted that the world’s only floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov had been put in operation in Chukotka not long before and that this unparalleled technology had aroused customer interest. “In addition to the construction of four floating nuclear power units for the Baimsky GOK mining site, we see demand for another 15 floating reactors in the Arctic. The region offers prospects for building both on-shore small modular reactors and large nuclear power plants,” Alexey Likhachev noted. 
    Sakhalin. Rosatom, H2 Tech, H2 Clean Energy, and Gazprom Neft will join efforts to design and build a low-carbon hydrogen plant on Sakhalin Island. A memorandum to this effect was signed by the parties in the margins of the Eastern Economic Forum. Hydrogen is planned to be produced by steam methane reforming. The annual output is expected at 36,500 tons and may be increased after 2030. Hydrogen will be sold to the domestic market and exported to the Asia Pacific countries. Besides, Rosatom, the Government of the Sakhalin Region, and the Sakhalin State University agreed to jointly develop pilot hydrogen projects and train professionals for the hydrogen industry.
    Yakutia. The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, Yakutia, Rosatom and Seligdar intend to expand cooperation on the Kyuchus cluster of tin, gold and other solid mineral deposits. The source of energy for the development of promising deposits in the Arctic part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) will be a RITM-200 small modular reactor in the town of Ust-Kuiga. The site was licensed in April 2023; the first facility of the nuclear plant’s external infrastructure was completed in August.
    Northern Sea Route. Over 23 million tons of cargo was transported on the NSR for the first eight months of 2023. The traffic grew 1.5% year-on-year, said Vladimir Panov, Rosatom’s special representative for the Arctic development. “Cargoes from the Baltic started moving eastwards to Asia. There is a high probability that the traffic on the NSR will hit a new high this year. Work is underway to set up an international NSR container line,” Vladimir Panov said.
    Chukotka. Rosatom is working on a power supply project for the Sovinoye gold deposit. The project provides for the construction of a 10 MW small modular reactor Shelf-M. Gold miner ARMZ and RAOS (part of Rosatom) signed a cooperation agreement to this effect on the sidelines of the forum. The reactor will have a service life of 60 years and a full-core refueling interval of eight years. The SMR is planned to be put into commercial operation in 2030.
    11.09.2023
    Equipment. Rosatom set a record for the annual production of nuclear reactors. In early September, Atommash (part of Rosatom’s power engineering division) manufactured a pressure vessel for a new-type nuclear reactor, VVER-TOI (Water-Cooled Water-Moderated Energy Reactor Universal Optimized Digital). The RPV is designed for the second power unit of Kursk II (Russia). “This is the fourth reactor produced by Atommash this year, which means our power engineering division has set a record pace for the production of reactor equipment. But please note we do not set records for the sake of records – this is a response to Rosatom’s ambitious program of building nuclear power plants in Russia and other countries,” Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said. Earlier this year, reactor pressure vessels and steam generators were shipped to the Tianwan and Xudabao NPPs (China) and the Kudankulam NPP (India).
    Power generation. For the eight months of 2023, Russia’s nuclear power plants generated over 141.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 102.03% of the output target set by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service. Thus, over 2.8 billion kWh has been produced above the plan year to date. For the same period, the Russia-based nuclear generation facilities prevented the emission of greenhouse gases equivalent to about 70 million tons of CO2. The Russian nuclear plants account for nearly 20% of domestic electricity production.
    El Dabaa NPP. The Board of the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) issued a construction licence for El Dabaa Unit 4. “This is a meaningful step on our way towards another key milestone, the first concrete pouring and the start of construction works at the fourth unit of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant,” Alexey Kononenko, Director of El Dabaa Construction Project, pointed out. He also stressed that the construction of the nuclear plant was proceeding on schedule. This summer, the ENRRA commission conducted a comprehensive on-site inspection and found it would be safe to continue with the construction of Unit 4. Rosatom is building in Egypt a nuclear power plant with four VVER-1200 reactors, each having a capacity of 1,200 MW.
    04.09.2023
    Science. Construction of an electronics testing center began at the Russian Scientific Research Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF, part of Rosatom) in Snezhinsk, Russia. Workers started to pour concrete for the foundation of the building. Meanwhile, a grounding grid is being laid for the earthing of complex testing equipment. “This advanced facility will simulate the effect of cosmic rays and man-made radiations. Its core will be a cyclotron capable of accelerating ions up to 15 MeV per nucleon. The facility will also be equipped with neutron generators, electron accelerators and a proton accelerator,” says Oleg Tkachev from VNIITF.
    Medicine. Rusatom Healthcare (part of Rosatom’s Healthcare Technology division) acquired a 100% stake in Axenter Group specializing in the irradiation of foods and disposable medical products. Axenter operates three large irradiation facilities. Rosatom has been working on multi-purpose irradiation projects in Russia for several years. Its sterilization center Sterion has been active since 2016. Similar centers in Kazan and Obninsk are in the final phase of completion. “Demand for ‘cold’ sterilization by ionizing radiation has been growing worldwide over the last few years. This is one of the most advanced, cost-efficient and safest techniques ever,” says Igor Obrubov, CEO of Rusatom Healthcare.
    Akkuyu NPP. Rusatom Energy International (REIN, part of Rosatom) and its subsidiary RAOS Energy held a meeting with Akkuyu NPP contractors. They presented additive, composite and fiberglass products; thermal engineering, wind generation and energy storage solutions; nuclear and non-nuclear medicine innovations, safety and radiation control tools, and smart city systems. “The advanced technologies we use to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant are adopted by local companies and can be applied by them effectively in any projects,” REIN CEO Anastasia Zoteeva said.