Khmelnitsky NPP: characteristics, history

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In the era of the Soviet Union, it was difficult to surprise any of the citizens with large-scale construction projects. Throughout the vast now non-existent country, construction of industrial facilities, colossal in size and material investments, took place, among which the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant occupies a special place. We will talk about this station, which generates electricity from nuclear energy, in the article.

General information

Khmelnitsky NPP is the last plant of its kind, which was put into operation during the Soviet period. Moreover, the facility turned out to be the first of its kind on the territory of modern independent Ukraine and, quite possibly, the first sign on the path to the most efficient renewal of the existing fleet of nuclear reactors. The main task for the station was to compensate for the acute shortage of electrical capacities in the western regions of Ukraine, as well as, if necessary, to export to the states of the Councilmutual economic assistance.

Backstory

During the period of the 1970s there was a very rapid development of the national economy of the Soviet Union, which quite logically required an increase in the provision of electricity. The country's unified energy system was extremely acutely aware of the lack of capacity. Since the western regions carried out a very decent export of electricity abroad, there naturally arose a need to make up the difference by creating a new station, and one that could produce at least 4,000 MW. It goes without saying that this was possible only thanks to nuclear energy. And therefore, on March 16, 1971, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to start building a new nuclear power plant in the center of Ukraine. However, due to the increasing export of electricity to the CMEA countries, it was decided to build the station in the west of the state.

Creators

Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, the accident at which will be described below, was created by specialists from a Kyiv institute called Energoproekt. The final version of the project was approved by the relevant ministry on November 28, 1979. The document provided for the unification of nuclear power plants with a VVER-1000 type reactor. More than 50 points applied for the role of the main construction site.

Start of construction

So, where is the Khmelnitsky NPP located on the map of Ukraine? The country's leadership chose the area of the city of Neteshino as the place of its permanent base. Initially, the object was named West Ukrainian NPP, but later it wasrenamed to Khmelnytsky.

February 4, 1977, the USSR Ministry of Energy issued an order giving start to the start of construction work on the construction of the station. This document gave impetus to the implementation of large-scale operations. Aleksey Ivanovich Trotsenko was appointed director of an industrially important strategic facility.

First difficulties

In the spring of 1977, the first workers arrived in Netishin. A detachment of 60 people was headed by the head of the section. Initially, only one excavator, two cars and a bulldozer were allocated for the entire team. It is worth noting that mother nature also brought additional problems to the pioneers: the area was wooded and swampy, peat bogs and terrible impassability interfered. According to the memoirs of the first director of the nuclear power plant, construction site workers had a meager salary for those times and lived in very cramped conditions, firmly believing in their bright future.

Construction continues

In 1978, equipment, designs of the first components and assemblies began to be delivered to the facility. A dredger was also launched, digging a platform under the road and the city. Two years later, they began to build a reservoir with a total area of 22 km2,and the first residents of the future city of nuclear scientists received completely finished apartments from the state.

The start of the construction of the nuclear power plant dates back to January 22, 1981. It was on this day that the first bucket of soil was excavated at the construction site under the foundation pit, on which it was planned to installpower unit of the Khmelnytsky NPP.

Six months later, the builders started concreting the foundation of the reactor compartment. And on October 22, 1981, together with the first cube of concrete poured into the slab of the power unit, a capsule was laid in which a symbolic message was placed to future generations. On December 1 of the same year, the first issue of the printed edition "Energostroitel" was made up and went into circulation.

In July 1982, during the construction of the main building, the workers passed the zero mark. The creation of partitions and the installation of metal structures were also started. The very next year, the builders began to install the shaft of the reactor itself. In parallel, work was carried out on the construction of block No. 2.

In 1984, special overpasses were laid for technical pipelines and the construction of the Khmelnitsky NPP - Rzeszow (Poland) power line with a capacity of 750 kW was completed.

In 1986, a hermetic shell, pipelines, and ventilation systems were installed at the first power unit. In August, the reactor dome was finally installed. The construction of blocks No. 2 and No. 3 also continued, the workers were preparing for the start of construction No. 4.

Get Started

In November 1987, nuclear fuel was put into the first power unit. The physical launch of the reactor took place at 6 am on December 10 under the supervision of shift supervisor Tugaev. On December 22, it became clear that the reactor was already completely ready for connection to the country's unified energy network. On December 31, the station was fully commissioned.

On April 17, 1988, the first everKhmelnitsky NPP scheduled preventive maintenance of the first power unit.

90s era

At this time, the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant was actively operated and gradually built further. At the same time, problems arose, including: the introduction of a moratorium by the government of the country on the construction of nuclear reactors, chronic wage arrears among employees of the enterprise, and others. Nevertheless, the nuclear power plant continued to generate electricity, and at the time of 1999, work on the construction of a storage facility for radioactive waste was completed by 80%.

2000s period

In 2002, the power plant was able to produce 90 billion kWh of electricity. A year later, the facility was able to reduce the amount of harmful emissions into the atmosphere by 10 times.

On August 8, 2007, power unit number 2 was introduced into the united energy system of Ukraine.

In 2007, the situation at the Khmelnitsky NPP was studied by representatives of the IAEA mission, who arrived at the facility at the invitation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The experts assessed compliance with safety standards and were satisfied with what they saw, which most reassured all those who were worried about the operation of the nuclear power plant.

In the fall of 2015, the agreement with the Russian Federation on the construction of power units No. 3 and No. 4 was terminated.

Technical parameters

Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant currently uses two power units. Both the first and second reactors are equipped with VVER-1000/320 power plants with a capacity of 950 MW. Moreover, power unit No. 1 has December 13, 2018 as a design date for the completion of its life, and power unit No. 2 - September 7, 2035.

Emergency

What happened at the Khmelnitsky NPP at the beginning of the current 2018? On the night of January 3, an emergency situation occurred at an industrial facility: a coolant leak was detected in the seal assembly of the protection and control system adjustment body. In connection with this, the management of the station decided to disconnect the second power unit from the network. As a result, the repair work lasted until January 9th. All this time, local residents have received heat in their homes thanks to the use of steam boilers of the start-up station.

In general, the Khmelnytsky NPP, the accident in 2018 at which caused a stir among ordinary people, is relatively safe and is under the strict control of relevant specialists. It is worth noting here that the "320th" power units are no longer considered fully compliant with international safety requirements after the accident at the Japanese Fukushima.

The described incident has a zero classification on the INES global scale, that is, it is outside the scale.