Operating Organizations and Regulating Agencies

• "Rosenergoatom"  - 8 NPPs (all but Leningrad NPP)

• "Leningrad NPP"

Federal Law "On the Use of Atomic Energy"
November 21, 1995

SAFETY CONSIDERATION AND ASSESSMENT

According to routine practice, all Russian NPPs have been subject to the integrated analysis of the design solutions for compliance with safety requirements in connection with release of new standards and regulations in atomic power engineering.

Such safety consideration and assessment of all existing NPP units have been (and are being ) performed regularly by the Operating organization and the Regulatory body (Gosatomnadzor) within the frame of granting the operation license (or permission) as well as during development of the modification and technical re-equipment programme for the existing NPPs by the Operating organizations.

The current regulatory documents developed with account for the basic safety principles issued in INSAG-3 and other documents approved at the international level have been used as the methodological basis for safety analysis of the operating NPPs.

The implemented measures permit to ensure an applicable level of NPP safety.

Federal Regulation and Rules

Federal regulations and rules involve regulatory documents which regulate nuclear and radiation safety (except for sanitary standards of exposure and contamination) and involve the requirements for all the stages of nuclear installation life, including requirements for the systems important to safety of nuclear installation and their equipment, requirements for physical security, registration and inspection of nuclear materials as well as procedure of registration and investigation of disturbances and accidents in nuclear installation operation.

The recent safety requirements and principles correspond, mainly, to the nuclear installation safety requirements and principles as accepted in the world practice.

Main Principles of the centralized management and safety assessment

In performance of the above federal acts and implementation of the safety principles reflected in the federal standards and regulations the Operating body have accepted "Main principles of the Operating organization activities for centralized management and safety assessment of nuclear installations - Declaration of policy".

The main principles are:

• safety priority - safety assurance of each nuclear installation throughout its life is a target of priority and is higher than production of the electrical and thermal power;

• economical efficiency and reliability - provision for the profitable and reliable operation of each nuclear installation is the main task of the Operating organization;

• safety culture - all persons and organizations involved in the nuclear installation life at all its stages shall be guided in its activity and relationships by the world-recognized principles of safety culture; observance of the standards and regulations - strict adherence to the requirements of standards and regulations valid in atomic power engineering, of the Russian Federation acts as well as consideration of codes of practice, statements and safety guides of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other provisions of the world-recognized documents: "Main safety principles of nuclear power plants" (75-INSAG-3) and "Safety culture" (75-INSAG-4), etc. shall be provided for each nuclear installation throughout its life.

Russian NPP safety is assured due to successive realization of defense in depth strategy based on usage of physical barriers system to prevent radioactive materials release into environment as well as the system of technical and organization measures for protection of barriers and keeping their efficiency during the whole period of nuclear station operation.

The system of physical barriers of nuclear station units comprises a fuel matrix, fuel rod cladding, reactor coolant circuit boundary, reactor plant leak-proof enclosure (or containment).

 

RADIATION EFFECT AT NPPs.

Individual and collective doses of personnel exposure at NPPs are decreasing continuously.

In 1999 no personnel of nuclear stations received a dose exceeding the national dose limit equal to 5 cSv/year.

Releases of gas-aerosol nuclides from nuclear stations resulted in population exposures that are less than 1% of the exposure received by the population from natural radiation sources.

Radioactivity released from nuclear stations with liquid effluents does not exceed 2% of the exposure received by the population from natural radiation sources.

Environmental contamination in areas of nuclear stations sitting has not been detected.

Content of radionuclides in the soil, vegetation, water reservoir  and other surroundings of the supervised areas is on the level of the background values.
 

NPPs' Operational Safety Indicators
In 1997

• Load Factor - 60%

• 79 NPP events: 3 events - 1 level according to the INES;

• 13 units disconnection from the grid by reactor protection

system actuation ( 0,45 scram/unit).

Trend of the NPP events according to the INES scale

(1/unit)

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
 

PROGRAMME OF ATOMIC POWER DEVELOPMENT

• Up to the year 2000 -

Modification and technical re-equipment of the first generation power units at the operating NPPs in order to ensure safe operation until expiration of the design service life as well as development of the new-generation NPP forerunners with upgraded safety.

• During 2000-2005 and up to 2010 -

Construction of the new-generation NPPs with upgraded safety and beginning of the planned decommissioning of the first-generation NPP units.