MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. The Kola nuclear power plant (NPP) in Arctic Russia has produced hydrogen at a new electrolysis unit, press service of Rosatom state corporation said on Monday.

"A new domestically assembled electrolysis unit at the Kola NPP has produced the first hydrogen needed to cool down turbine generators producing electric power at the nuclear plant," the company said. Hydrogen is being produced in a cutting-edge process used for the first time on a commercial scale at the NPP site. Safety and product purity are the main advantages of the new electrolysis unit. It makes hydrogen with 99.999% purity, while unit operation is monitored by hydrogen detectors responding to the overrun of predetermined parameters, and by fire extinguishing and ventilation systems.

"Russia is currently stepping up efforts to create a high technology basis in all spheres of life. Hydrogen energy is among the priority areas of research and technology development of Rosatom state corporation. We believe this pilot unit will prove itself and in the future Kola NPP will begin producing pure hydrogen on the required industrial scale," said Vladimir Matveev, the Chief Engineer of the Kola NPP.

The Kola NPP has become the pilot site for hydrogen production in Russia owing to its experience: turbine generators in the plant were always cooled by hydrogen. Implementation of the hydrogen production bench-testing complex project is scheduled for 2025.