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Unit 4 at Kalinin NPP reconnected to power grid after overhaul

The plant uses VVER-1000 reactors

TVER, April 18 (Itar-Tass) —— Unit No. 4 at the Kalinin nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the power grid after a scheduled overhaul and installation of additional process equipment and system.

“Unit No. 4 went into the start-up process in October of last year and achieved criticality in November. The commissioning process is continuing,” the power plant’s spokeswoman Irina Karimoav told Itar-Tass on Wednesday, April 18.

The plant uses VVER-1000 reactors. Currently, all four power units are operating with a combined output of 3,586 MW.

The first of the three power units had reached its designated capacity in June 1985. The plant uses VVER-1000 water-moderated water-cooled reactors. Each has a capacity of 1,000 watts.

The second power unit was commissioned in April 1986, thus completing the construction of the first stage of the Kalinin nuclear power plant. It included two power units equipped with VVER-1000 reactors.

The third power unit is one of the newest among the 31 units operating at Russia's ten nuclear power plants. This is one of the most modern facilities in the Russian atomic energy industry.

The third and the fourth units are part of the Kalinin NPP's second segment. The fourth unit is scheduled to go on line in 2011. This will increase the plant's tax payments to the budget by one-third.

The construction of the fourth power unit at the Kalinin NPP is by far the largest investment project in the Tver region. Its construction resumed in 2007 after a 16-year pause. The project to build the second stage of the Kalinin NPP was approved by the Energy Ministry 23 years ago.

More than 600 unique new solutions designed to increase the unit's safety were used during its construction. It was commissioned in December 2004.

Currently, the Kalinin nuclear power plant supplies electricity to eight Russian regions by two transmission lines of 330 kilowatts and by four 750-kilowatt lines.

The Kalinin nuclear power plant is a subsidiary of the state-owned nuclear operator Rosenergoatom, which belongs to the Atomenergoprom company. It is projected that up to 25 percent of all electricity in Russia will be generated by nuclear power plants within the next six years. At present, Russia's nuclear power plants account for only 16 percent of the country's electricity production.

The Kalinin nuclear power plant is the largest producer of electricity in central Russia.

The nuclear power plant is located in the north of the Tver region, 330 kilometres northwest of Moscow and 400 kilometres from St. Petersburg. It largely meets electricity needs of the eight Russian regions.