Rosenergoatom boss sets deadline for first concrete at Generation IV nuclear plant
Rosenergoatom’s primary focus is on finalising the design documentation as preparations continue for the construction of the Beloyarsk-5 nuclear plant – the first unit in the country with a Generation IV BN-1200M reactor.
The state nuclear power development and operations company said it was aiming to submit the documentation to the Main Directorate of State Expertise of Russia, with the goal of receiving a final opinion by the end of 2026. The directorate, known as Glavgosexpertiza, is the federal executive institution authorised to examine project documentation for significant infrastructure projects.
Rosenergoatom said once the documentation is approved the next step will be to obtain a licence to construct the power unit. That licence could be issued in the spring of 2027, Rosenergoatom said.
The update on the project came as Rosenergoatom chief executive officer Alexander Shutikov paid a working visit to the Beloyarsk site, near Yekaterinburg in southwest Russia, where he held a series of meetings on preparations for construction.
Shutikov said the deadline for pouring first concrete was the end of 2027.
To date, more than 1.4 million cubic meters of waste soil have been cleared, and the site has been cleared of vegetation.
According to Yuri Nosov, director of the Beloyarsk nuclear power station, the site will now be prepared for drilling and blasting operations.
Russia’s sodium-cooled BN-series fast breeder reactors (FBRs) are part of state nuclear corporation Rosatom’s project to develop fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle whose mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel will be reprocessed and recycled.
An FBR is an advanced nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material – nuclear fuel – than it consumes while producing electricity. By converting non-fissile materials into usable fuel, it drastically improves resource efficiency and extracts far more energy from uranium reserves than conventional reactors
The Beloyarsk-3 BN-600 FBR began commercial operation in 1981 and the BN-800 Beloyarsk-4 FBR in 2016.
Beloyarsk-4 is seen as a demonstration unit for the larger BN-1200 FBR at Beloyarsk-5.
