Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

The first accident at the plant occurred shortly after the first unit came online. On 7 January 1975, a concrete tank containing radioactive gases from Unit 1 exploded; there were no reported accident victims or radiation releases.[11][12]

Less than a month later, on 6 February 1975, the secondary cooling circuit of Unit 1 ruptured, releasing contaminated water into the environment. Three people were killed, and the accident was not reported in the media.[11][12]

On 28 November 1975, a fuel channel in Unit 1 suffered a loss of coolant, resulting in the degradation (partial meltdown) of a nuclear fuel assembly that led to a significant release of radiation lasting for one month. The exposed inhabitants of the Baltic region were not notified of the danger. The accident was not reported in the media. The Ministry of Medium Machine Building blamed the accident on poor construction, rather than on the inherent instability of the reactor design, in an attempt to cover up the accident.[13] The commission investigating the incident made several recommendations to improve safety of RBMK reactors, but they were not implemented.[13] Practically the same accident occurred in Unit 1 of the Chernobyl Power Station in 1982[11][12][14]

In July 1976 and again in September 1979, due to a poor safety culture, a fire broke out in a concrete vault containing radioactive waste. Water used in extinguishing the fires was contaminated, leaked into the environment, and entered the water table. This was not reported in the media.[14][12]

On 28 December 1990, during refurbishment of Unit 1, it was noticed that the space between the fuel channels and the graphite stack (contaminated during the 1975 accident) had widened. The contaminated graphite was spilled, and the radiation levels in the space under the reactor increased. Radiation was detected 6 km away from the unit, but this was not reported in the media.[14][12]

On 3 December 1991, due to faulty equipment and lax safety rule compliance, 10 new fuel rods were dropped and damaged. The staff tried to conceal the accident from the plant's management.[12]

In March 1992, an accident at the plant leaked radioactive gases and iodine into the air through a ruptured fuel channel. This was the first accident at the station that was announced in the media.[15]

On 27 August 2009, the third unit was stopped when a hole was found in the discharge header of a pump.[16] According to the automated radiation control system, the radiation situation at the plant and in its 30-kilometre (19 mi) monitoring zone was normal.[16] The plant's management refuted rumors of an accident and stated that the third unit was stopped for a "short-term unscheduled maintenance", with a restart scheduled for 31 August 2009.[17]

On 19 December 2015, unit 2 was stopped (scrammed) due to a broken steam pipe. No radioactively contaminated material was released.[18]

On 21 December 2018, the first unit of Leningrad NPP was shut down for decommissioning. The defueling process is expected to take until 2023. Once all the used fuel has been removed, decommissioning can begin.[19]

Production of Leningrad Units 1–4, 1974-2017 (TWh/year)

Leningrad II Nuclear Power Plant
Leningrad II Under construction
Country	Russia
Location	Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast
Coordinates	59°49′52″N 29°03′35″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	25 October 2008
Commission date	29 October 2018
Owner(s)	Rosenergoatom
Operator(s)	Rosenergoatom
Nuclear power station
Reactors	2 (2 planned)
Reactor type	VVER-1200/V491 (AES-2006)
Reactor supplier	Atomstroyexport
Power generation
Units operational	2 × 1085 MW
Units planned	2 × 1085 MW
Nameplate capacity	2170 MW
External links
Website	rosenergoatom.ru/stations_projects/sayt-leningradskoy-aes/index.php?sphrase_id=31674
Commons	Related media on Commons

In December 2019, Leningrad II-1 was integrated into the district heating system of Sosnovy Bor and the local industrial park, replacing the heating capacity of the closed RBMK-1000 units. The thermal output is 3200 MW.[20]

On 25 October 2008, Saint Petersburg Atomenergoproekt began concreting the foundation plate of the reactor building of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant II, Unit 1. The cost of the project was estimated at almost 70 billion Russian rubles (about $3 billion US dollars at the time).[21][22] A construction licence was issued on 22 July 2009.[23] In October 2018, Leningrad II-1 started commercial operation, and Leningrad II-2 was scheduled for the start of commercial operation in 2021. Leningrad II unit 2 entered commercial operation on March 22, 2021. Leningrad II-3 and II-4 are planned, but construction has not yet started. Once complete, all four nuclear reactors are estimated to have an annual electricity output of 32.8 million kWh. Each reactor is also estimated to generate approximately 9.17PJ/yr of district heating.

• 
  Reactor hall of one of the RBMK units
• 
  Construction site for Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant II, April 2010

• Nuclear power in Russia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

• Leningrad NPP Archived 23 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine – official website of the plant (in Russian)
• Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant – official website from operator (in English and Russian)
• Ecologists Slam Nuclear Power Plant