State nuclear corporation Rosatom said the inspection is being carried out by nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor “in accordance with Russian law”. Rostekhnadzor’s inspectors will work at the station until the end of February, Rosatom said.
Construction of the VVER-1200 Generation III+ pressurised water reactor began in April 2010. The unit was connected to Russia’s power grid and started to deliver electrical energy for the first time in October 2020. It reached maximum power levels on 3 January 2021.
Leningrad 2-2, north of St Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland, will replace Leningrad-2, a 925-MW Soviet-designed light-water graphite reactor, or RBMK, which was permanently shut down in November 2020.
The expected commissioning of Leningrad 2-2 will mean Russia’s fleet of Generation III+ units will increase to four. The others are Leningrad 2-1, Novovoronezh 2-1 and Novovoronezh 2-2.