As we were told, not all visitors to the station know that the end product of the operation of a nuclear power plant is electricity. They asked me to write about it. Writing))

The fuel assembly is a huge "pencil", inside of which there are TVELs - fuel elements (green cylinders in the photo). Inside the TVELs are uranium "pills" (from uranium dioxide UO2). It is in TVELs that a nuclear reaction occurs, accompanied by the release of thermal energy, which is then transferred to the coolant. The reactor fuel element is a tube filled with uranium dioxide UO2 pellets and hermetically sealed. The TVEL tube is made of zirconium doped with niobium. Details - .

A controlled chain reaction takes place in the reactor core.

Tatyana stands on the "reactor" and explains how it works.

Several museum exhibits are dedicated to national culture.

Protective suits for work at the station.

And finally, attention... MYSTERY OF THE YELLOW TURTLE, which I will disclose))) There is a unique facility on the territory of the Kola NPP, the LRW KP is a complex for the processing of liquid radioactive waste. The Kola NPP is the only plant in Russia and in the world (!) where LRW processing has been established. And the yellow turtle is made from the end product of processing - non-radioactive salt water. You can see the waste processing scheme at the Kola Nuclear Power Plant. Another article on the topic -.
Small comment: It is very good that the Kola NPP started processing waste. Reducing the amount of waste produced is right. But! The use of such technology does not completely solve the fundamental problem of waste. Firstly, you still have to store the solid waste obtained at the filtration stage. Secondly, the problem of spent nuclear fuel is not being solved. SNF is still being transported to Mayak. And it still affects people's health. The problem of waste is a fundamental point for criticism of the entire industry. How ethical and reasonable is it to produce the most hazardous waste if NO ONE knows what to do with this waste? While real alternatives . And many of their countries in full!

One of the objects of the information center, intended for children. Protoshka and Elektroshka demonstrate that different appliances consume different amount energy. Yes, the boys have a girlfriend - Neutroshka)))

Our escorts said that not all station workers know who bloggers are)) Moreover, I can imagine their surprise when they met our company in the corridors, hung with cameras. By the way, KoAES employees are forbidden to bring cameras into the station territory.

After the information center, we went directly to the station. A brief safety briefing (conducted by the deputy head of the security service), distribution of helmets, and we went directly to the production facilities.

We started from the end) Engine room. Turbines are installed here (yellow cylindrical structure at the top left), which receive heated steam. The steam drives a generator connected to the turbine shaft, which generates electricity. The electricity is then transferred to the grid through transformers.

Against the background of one of the turbines - blogger Igor Generalov

Turbine TA-1 is older than me)))

What surprised me in the engine room. This is a huge number of all kinds of pointer devices, similar to pressure gauges, valves, antediluvian electric motors, etc. I assume that old = reliable. But for some reason I'm not sure that since then nothing new, more modern and reliable has appeared.

And, of course, the complexity (at least the apparent complexity) of the equipment used is striking. It is interesting how quickly you can figure out this intricacies of pipes in the event of any emergency.

the engine room is the noisiest and hottest at the station. In summer, the temperature here goes off scale strongly over forty. Therefore, drinking fountains are more than relevant.

The next room is a block control panel (MCC, it is also in the title photo), with the help of which the parameters of the power unit are controlled and the technological process is controlled. There are cameras installed in many places of the station,

... the image from which is fed to the control room monitors.

Panorama of the control room.

The culmination of the tour is a visit to the central reactor hall! Reactor shop engineer Alexander Pavlovich Aptakov and head of the public information center Nigorenko Viktoria Yuryevna told us about how the reactor works, how rods are loaded and unloaded from the reactor, etc.

Ladder on the lid of the reactor.

Here it is - the reactor lid.

Photoblogger at work

Each participant of the tour was given a dosimeter. I will say right away that at the end of the tour he showed the same zeros as at the beginning.

In some places of the station you should not linger. For example, these "racks". If I understand correctly, fuel assemblies are put here when they are taken out of the reactor.

Assemblies are lifted from the reactor and lowered back using this contraption.

Here again, it's interesting. An old telephone set in the reactor hall. Was it left because in the event of an accident, digital analogs would most likely fail, or for some other reason?

The lid of the second reactor is visible in the distance.

Yes, I forgot to say. At the entrance to the ZKD - controlled access zone, we put on protective clothing: gowns, socks, shoe covers and gloves.

When leaving the "dirty" premises, everyone is subjected to checks on special devices.

Avezniyazov Slava Rinatovich. This person is the head of the waste processing shop. He led us to the LRW CP and showed us the operation of the complex's control panel. The construction of the waste processing workshop was carried out on the basis that it must withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7 points (the entire station - up to 6 points).

Bloggers listen to Slava Rinatovich's story about waste recycling.

Control panel of the KP LRW.

One of the employees recently had a daughter)

And here is the waste itself.

In barrels - salt melt, from which the turtle is made) Of course, turtles are not made on an industrial scale. And you can use the resulting melt. For example, in road construction.

All kinds of grabs for loading drums and containers.

In many halls of nuclear power plants, informative markings are applied on the floor: what, where and how much weight can and should be placed.

In general, there are special plates for any work at the station.

The output is control again.

The red rectangle is the "dirty" right leg. The girl did not wipe her feet on a special rug.

Radiometer. They checked the cleanliness of the tripod from one of the photographers.

Workwear warehouse.

We leave the zone of controlled access.

The next item on the program is the simulator. A training complex where station personnel are being trained. Every year, the station's employees attend two-week classes here. The cost of the complex is 6 million dollars. The complex has been operating since 2000. The head of the complex, Yury Vladimirovich Gorbachev, explained what and how. And he even organized an "accident", after which he "switched off the reactor."

Further there will be many photos with buttons, levers, toggle switches, etc. All this is jansto in the hall of the training complex.

In the last two photos - back side simulator.

Panorama of the simulator.

Finally, a visit to a trout farm was planned. But this item was prudently canceled, deciding that dark fish in dark water are not too photogenic))

But we stopped at the ski complex "Salma". I am not an expert, so I can not say anything about its merits. For those who are interested, see the website.

We spent the rest of the day before the train at the Nivskiye Berega hotel. Where there is free Wi-Fi and a funny ad on the wall, according to which our group looked more than suspicious))

Yes, it is also worth noting that after the tour there was a meeting with Gennady Vladimirovich Petkevich, Deputy Chief Engineer for Engineering Support of the station. I cannot say that this meeting was very informative for me. I was mainly interested in social issues and issues of ensuring the safety of residents. Gennady Vladimrovich said that the last time the city exercises in case of actions in the event of an emergency at the station were held two years ago. Victoria Yuryevna Nigorenko added that the population is still being informed: on local TV and with the help of special brochures that are scattered in mailboxes.

More questions like this:

Average salary at KoAES?
- 70,000 rubles.

Average age of station workers?
- 41 years old.

How do you feel about the petition signed by the mayors of Norwegian cities against the construction of a new stage of KoAES?
- I don't have anything to do with it, it's their business, and the construction of the station is our internal affair, our interests. The petition has no objective basis.

Cost of electricity?
- 1 kw/h = about 60 kop.

From a poster in the corridor of the nuclear power plant, children warn: if used carelessly, the "peaceful atom" can split the planet!

P.S. Well, finally, a fly in the ointment in the ointment of nuclear energy (I must say right away that this is a difficult moment, the texts are in English, but I think for those who want to understand why many environmentalists and Greenpeace, in particular, oppose the further development of nuclear energy, these links are important).
So, one can often hear that nuclear energy is the future, that we are now witnessing another nuclear renaissance, and so on. But let's compare the numbers. Since 2006, the production of nuclear electricity in the world has been falling. This is reflected in various sources, in particular in the surveys of British Petroleum, which makes annual statistical reviews of the world (see section Historical data).
BP data is confirmed by the statistics offered by the World Nuclear Association (WNA): in recent years, there has been a drop in electricity generation at nuclear power plants.
In addition, the volume of commissioned nuclear generation capacities in recent years has become less than the commissioned capacity of renewable energy sources, for example, in photovoltaics (not to mention wind energy). Thus, according to WNA, in 2009 the total increase in nuclear generation amounted to 0.8 GW, and in 2008, nuclear generation showed a decrease in installed capacity by 0.1 GW. At the same time, according to the Renewable energy network, growth in photovoltaics was 5.9 and 7 GW in 2008 and 2009. respectively (see Table R1). And if we also take into account concentrated solar energy (CSP), then the advantage will be even more in favor of alternative sources.
Dmitry Kachalov
Report ctulhuftagn
Reporting in two parts

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Kola NPP is a branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC (part of the electric power division of Rosatom State Corporation). This is the first nuclear power plant in Russia built beyond the Arctic Circle. For 45 years, the northern nuclear power plant has been operating reliably and efficiently, remaining an environmentally friendly enterprise and providing the Murmansk region and the Republic of Karelia with electricity. For more than 10 years, the nuclear power plant has been successfully headed by Vasily Omelchuk.

northernmost

The Kola NPP is located 200 kilometers south of Murmansk on the shores of Lake Imandra, 12 kilometers from the city of Polyarnye Zori. The station generates about 60% of electricity in the Murmansk region.

The history of the Kola NPP began in the mid-1960s: the active development of the northern territories continued, and the rapid development of industry required large energy costs. The country's leadership decided to build a nuclear power plant in the Arctic, and in 1969 the builders laid the first cubic meter of concrete. In 1973, the first power unit of the nuclear power plant supplied current to the Unified Energy System of the country, and in 1984 the last, 4th power unit, was put into operation.

In 1991-2005, a large-scale reconstruction of equipment was carried out at the first stage of the station, which made it possible to bring it into line with the new requirements of nuclear safety rules and extend its operation life by 15 years. In 2007, work began on the reconstruction of Units 3 and 4; in 2011, a license was obtained from Rostekhnadzor to operate Unit 3 in an additional period.

The branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC Kola Nuclear Power Plant, like all NPPs in Russia, demonstrates reliable and safe operation in all areas, including environmental safety issues.

For the first time in the history of the Russian nuclear power industry

At the end of June of this year, residents of Polyarnozorinsk and guests of the city of nuclear scientists celebrated a double holiday: the 45th anniversary of the commissioning of the first power unit of the Kola NPP and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the city of Polyarnye Zori.

According to the head of KNPP Vasily Omelchuk, the best gift for the staff of the enterprise was the decision taken on June 28 by Rostekhnadzor to grant Rosenergoatom Concern from July this year a license that gives the right to operate the nuclear plant of power unit No. 1 of the Kola NPP for an additional period of 15 years - up to 2033.

Deputy General Director - Director of the branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC "Kola Nuclear Power Plant" Vasily Omelchuk

I want to emphasize that the repeated extension of the operation of power units is taking place for the first time in the history of the Russian nuclear industry. A significant amount of work has already been done. Ahead is the implementation of many more promising projects.

The safety level of four power units with VVER-440 reactors meets the modern requirements of domestic and international standards, which has been repeatedly confirmed by Russian and international experts.

The Kola NPP has hosted IAEA missions more than once. The last one took place in 2014, and in November 2018 the plant will once again receive OSART mission experts as part of the Rosenergoatom Concern's corporate audit.

The staff of the enterprise adequately prepared for the anniversary. For several years, a lot of work was carried out to modernize the equipment, which made it possible to increase the safety and reliability of nuclear power plants by an order of magnitude. In 2017 alone, 2.5 billion rubles were spent for these purposes.

- Having worked for 45 years, the Kola station remains a safe industrial facility, - says the head. – The enterprise has never exceeded the standards set by the state for nuclear facilities.

In cooperation with foreign colleagues

Kola NPP continues the technical assistance programs of Norway, Sweden and Finland. During the long-term cooperation of the station with the Scandinavian countries, more than 50 joint projects aimed at improving the safety of the nuclear power plant have been implemented.

Thus, within their framework, the equipment for non-destructive testing of metal was modernized, the installations for eddy current testing of steam generator tubes, radiation monitoring equipment, fire extinguishing systems, water-chemical monitoring, a system for displaying safety parameters, and software were delivered.

NPPs pay special attention to the training and education of personnel: various trainings and seminars are held for nuclear scientists with the participation of foreign specialists from SSM, STUK and the IFE Institute. In the first quarter of 2018, it is planned to supply the Kola NPP with equipment worth more than 100 thousand euros: ultrasonic transducers for the reactor pressure vessel metal monitoring system (AREVA production), as well as Gamma Tracer radiation monitoring devices (Positron, Germany).

AtomSkills-2018: again with prizes

In August of this year, the third AtomSkills-2018 championship of professional skills of the State Corporation Rosatom was held in Yekaterinburg.

This is the most important event in the nuclear industry, its goal is to improve the professional skills of the best young engineers and workers of nuclear enterprises.

The competition brought together a record number of participants, experts, guests and fans - more than two thousand people in total. For four days, engineers, drivers, turners and electricians from 78 industrial enterprises of the country competed in skills in 28 competencies.

As a result, the Kola NPP won prizes in three out of four nominations. This is another achievement of northern nuclear scientists.

The winners received awards from Alexei Likhachev, Director General of the Rosatom State Corporation, and Evgeny Kuyvashev, Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region.

Over the years, station workers have become AtomSkills winners in the competencies of Dosimetrist, Industrial Automation, and Electrical Installation.

The team of the largest electric power division of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC at the Rosatom industry championship included 124 people - 54 contestants and 70 experts. In total, the team has 17 medals in 11 competencies.

City and station - one whole

The Kola NPP is a city-forming enterprise for the Polar Dawns with a population of 16,000 inhabitants. Thanks to industry support, a whole range of social projects is being implemented in the city.

With the assistance of KNPP, the House of Culture, a swimming pool, a sports stadium were built, the wooden Orthodox Holy Trinity Church became the decoration of the Polar Dawns. In 2002, on the Power Engineer's Day, a new indoor ice stadium opened its doors.

The commissioning of the electric boiler house provided a reduction in the cost of expensive fuel oil, reduced the amount of emissions into the atmosphere and solved the problem of hot water supply for housing stock and enterprises in the summer.

In 2018, more than 40 million rubles will be spent on the creation of sports and cultural facilities only under the agreement between Rosatom and the government of the Murmansk region. At the same time, the management of the enterprise always notes that the city and the nuclear power plant are a single whole.

According to the Director of the Kola NPP, Deputy Chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma Vasily Omelchuk, the management of Rosatom, the Rosenergoatom Concern and the Kola NPP, the regional government and the administration of the city of Polyarnye Zori are successfully cooperating in an effort to make the city as comfortable as possible for life.

The priority of the year is the construction of a sports and recreation complex in Polyarnye Zori. Another large-scale project being implemented today is the creation of a city park on the shores of Lake Pinozero. In a few years, a huge park with many infrastructure facilities appeared on the site of a forest in the southern part of the city.

Deputy General Director- Director of the branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC Kola Nuclear Power Plant Vasily Omelchuk

Born in 1953 in Ukraine, in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region. In 1975 he graduated with honors from the Odessa Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Nuclear Power Plants and Installations.

He has been working at the Kola NPP since 1975, starting as an operator. Since 1988, he worked as Deputy Chief Engineer. In 1994–2008, he was Chief Engineer of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant branch of FSUE Rosenergoatom Concern, Chief Engineer of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant branch of Energoatom Concern JSC.

Since 2009 - Deputy General Director - Director of the branch of Rosenergoatom Concern JSC "Kola Nuclear Power Plant".

V.V. Omelchuk - Deputy Chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma.

He was awarded the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree (2000), the medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" I degree (2006).

In 2018, Vasily Vasilyevich Omelchuk celebrates his 65th birthday.

Based on materials from the official website of the Kola NPP

Read more:

There are few places in our country where in the 60s of the XX century the industry was as energy-intensive as on the Kola Peninsula. But, having endowed the peninsula with various ores, nature deprived it of fuel. The hydropower resources of the rivers - Kovda, Tuloma, Niva - were insufficient, the delivery of coal and oil to the North was too expensive. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the Arctic in electricity, it was decided to build the Kola nuclear power plant.

This is the world's first nuclear power plant built beyond the Arctic Circle. At present, it is one of the most efficient in the nuclear industry. For more than 37 years, the company has been steadily operating in the extreme conditions of the Arctic. Today, nuclear power plants are the main supplier of electricity in the Kola energy system, where its share in it is about 58.6% of generation and 47% of consumption. The main consumers of the station are two copper-nickel metallurgical plants, two iron ore plants, an aluminum plant, and a plant for the production of phosphates. Approximately 80 thousand jobs in the region directly and indirectly depend on the Kola NPP. Since the commissioning of the 1st power unit of the station, more than 330 billion kW of electricity have been supplied to the country's energy system.
Kola NPP occupies a special place in the energy complex of the Murmansk region and throughout Russia, providing electricity to large industrial enterprises in the region. 4 reactors, 8 turbines, 24 steam generators, 24 main circulation pumps plus 2,618 employees - that's what this production is today.

shock construction
In 1963, the Leningrad branch of the Teploenergoproekt Institute sent an expedition of S. P. Ilovaisky to the village of Zasheek to carry out survey work to select a site for the construction of a nuclear power plant and a future village of power engineers. At the same time, the Institute worked on the design of the 1st and 2nd power units of the Kola NPP. It was presented a year later in Kyiv at a meeting of the CMEA. There it was approved, but the approval of the design assignment by Gosstroy for the construction of the station took place only in 1967.
The decision to build the Kola NPP (KAES) was taken by the State Production Committee for Energy and Electrification of the USSR in March 1964. Specialists of the Institute "Teploenergoproekt" with the participation of the chief architect of the village project Lev Ignatievich Badridze selected a site for the construction of a village for power engineers near the village of Zasheek.
The first builders appeared there at the end of November 1964. They were faced with the task of creating a construction base, building housing and roads.

In 1967, the first residential building was introduced in the new city. Already in next year three residential buildings, a canteen, and a building for the construction department were built.
The actual construction of the nuclear power plant begins on May 18, 1969. On this day, the first cubic meter of concrete was laid at the base of the future station.
The construction of the city and the Kola NPP was carried out by the construction department of the Kola NPP, which was headed by Alexander Stepanovich Andrushechko, who had worked in this capacity for 17 years. In 1971, the construction site was declared the All-Union shock Komsomol.

The first director of the Kola NPP
The directorate of the nuclear power plant under construction was headed by Alexander Romanovich Belov, candidate of technical sciences, three times winner of the State Prize of the USSR, one of the founders of Sredmash, a leader with extensive economic experience. Much connected this person with the Murmansk region. After graduation, he worked at a metallurgical plant in Monchegorsk. Since 1940, he was the chief engineer there, and it was on his shoulders that the main hardships of the evacuation of this largest plant to Norilsk at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War fell. With the staff of the Kola NPP, he went through the most difficult period of time, when the construction and development of new production was going on.

Start of the first unit
The first unit of the Kola NPP was the lead one in a series of VVER-440 power units with a V-230 type reactor. The commissioning of a nuclear power plant on the Kola Peninsula was provided for by the directives of the XXIV Congress of the CPSU. The builders undertook to do this by December 30, 1972 - the 50th anniversary of the USSR. But at that time it was customary to start up important objects ahead of schedule. There was a new term - on November, 7th. However, gaps in the organization of labor did not allow setting a record. The historic event took place on June 29, 1973.

In the morning, a shift of Galina Alekseevna Petkevich worked at the station. It was this team that had to prepare the station directly for launch. A few hours before the main event, the shift ended. And then and. about. Director of the station Alexander Pavlovich Volkov decided to extend the work. At the same time, two more shifts began to work - Petr Stepanovich Ignatovich and Anatoly Nikolaevich Fedin.

Specialists of the reactor shop E. M. Kulmatitsky, N. V. Fenogenov, Yu. V. Grebenyuk carried out start-up operations at the unit control panel in strict accordance with the start-up program and recommendations of the start-up supervisor A. I. Belyaev and engineer-physicist V. M. Baryshnikova. In the controlled area, senior mechanical engineer V. A. Grebennikov, operators A. A. Polnikov and O. G. Lysenko carried out switching, carried out control of repair equipment. A change in the chemical workshop every 15 minutes determined the content boric acid in the first circuit.

This complex and painstaking work lasted more than 10 hours, and at 18 hours 50 minutes the instruments steadily recorded the beginning of the fission reaction in the core. In the year of its launch, the station generated 1.02 billion kWh of electricity.

Course - security
A year later, on December 8, 1974, the second block was launched, on March 24, 1981, the third, and on October 11, 1984, the fourth. At present, four power units with pressurized water reactors are operating at the station. The capacity of each of them is 440 thousand kilowatts.
Over 37 years of uninterrupted operation, the Kola NPP has generated more than 330 billion kWh of electricity and has earned the reputation of efficient and stable production. During all the years of operation, the main priority of the NPP operation was the continuous improvement of safety. Today, the share of the Kola NPP in the energy balance is more than 50% of all electricity generated in the region.

Its specialists took part in the launches of the Armenian, Rivne, Kalinin, Zaporozhye, Beloyarsk, Balakovo, Rostov NPPs, as well as the Loviza NPP (Finland), Nord (Germany), Kozloduy (Bulgaria), Paks (Hungary), Bogunitsy and Dukovany (Czech Republic and Slovakia), Juragua (Cuba).

The Kola NPP has successfully completed a large-scale program to improve safety, reconstruct and modernize the equipment of the 1st and 2nd power units (type 230). As a result, a confirmation (a license from Gosatomnadzor of Russia) was obtained for the operation of power units beyond the established design period. All work was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation, federal norms and rules in the field of the use of atomic energy, taking into account the recommendations of the IAEA and international experience in life management and safety assessment of nuclear power plants.

Since 1989, about 850 projects have been implemented according to the reconstruction plan. We used our own funds, funds of the Rosenergoatom concern, the federal budget, technical assistance foreign countries, governments of Norway, Finland, Sweden, USA. Currently, a comprehensive program is being implemented to prepare for the extension of the service life of the third and fourth power units.

The best nuclear power plant in Russia
At the end of the 1990s, the Kola NPP was recognized as the best NPP in Russia for three years in a row according to the results of a competition held by the Rosenergoatom concern. She achieved this title, having the best indicators in safety and stability of work, production efficiency, power generation, injury reduction, development of capital investments, and work with personnel. The personnel policy of the enterprise is based on the principle of working as a single highly professional team, when many significant issues are resolved collegially. At the same time, personal responsibility is very high and mutual control is also very high.

The director of the branch of the concern "Rosenergoatom" "Kola nuclear power plant" is currently Vasily Vasilyevich Omelchuk, a specialist with extensive experience in the nuclear industry and at the Kola NPP. The plant has developed a whole range of activities to maintain and improve the skills of personnel, improve procedures and increase the discipline and responsibility of each employee.
Kola NPP is a city-forming enterprise. Thanks to her financial support, an indoor ice palace of sports, an Orthodox church appeared in the city of polar nuclear scientists, medical equipment for the Medical Unit-118 and vehicles for the local police department were purchased, and a modern ski complex was built. The most important social facility in Polyarnye Zori introduced with the help of the Kola NPP was the construction of a heating electric boiler house in the city. With its commissioning, the inhabitants of Polar Zorin do not know the problems with hot water supply and the heating season starts earlier than anyone else in the Murmansk region.

Breakthrough in production
The last decade has become a real breakthrough in the activities of the Kola NPP. It was during these years that large-scale work was carried out here to improve safety, reconstruct and modernize the equipment of the 1st and 2nd power units (type 230). As a result, the enterprise received a license from Gosatomnadzor of Russia for their operation for 15 years beyond the established design period. A comprehensive program is being implemented to prepare for the extension of the life of the 3rd and 4th power units.
The main achievement of these years is the commissioning of a unique industrial facility - a complex for the processing of liquid radioactive waste, and the development of a technology that makes it possible to reduce the amount of liquid radioactive waste before disposal.

Ecology - paramount importance
Environmental issues at the Kola NPP are of paramount importance. Constant monitoring of the radiation situation in the area of ​​the power plant has been carried out since 1972, when background measurements of the radioactivity of the main natural objects were carried out.
A special zone with a radius of 15 kilometers has been established around the nuclear power plant, in which the environmental protection laboratory regularly conducts radiation and environmental testing of soil, air, water, bottom sediments, plants, fish, mushrooms and berries. Continuous monitoring is carried out with the help of an automated system for monitoring the radiation situation (ARMS). The ARMS of the Kola NPP includes 25 sensors for monitoring the dose rate of gamma radiation, five automated meteorological stations, a weather radar and a mobile radiometric laboratory. Information from sensors and radiation control posts is sent to the radiation safety service of the Kola NPP, the crisis center of the Rosenergoatom concern and the ASCR of the Murmansk region.

The results of long-term observations show that the operation of the nuclear power plant does not change the natural radiation background and the state of the environment in the area where the KNPP is located. This is achieved through strict adherence to industry standards at the enterprise. A striking example of the environmental safety of the station is the long-term successful operation of the trout farm located at the mouth of the discharge channel.

Kola NPP was one of the first to sign the protocol of accession to the social contract "On the Conservation of Wildlife in Russia" and assumed the relevant obligations. It also supports the Lapland Biosphere Reserve.
And in 2008, KNPP became a laureate of the European Quality Gold Medal competition in the nomination “100 Best Russian Organizations. Ecology and environmental management”.

Unique Russian development
One of the urgent tasks, which was started at the Kola NPP in the 90s of the last century, is the reduction and conditioning of a significant amount of accumulated liquid radioactive waste (LRW). At the station, preliminary design and survey and research work was carried out, and a large amount of pilot research was carried out. A project was formed to modernize the LRW handling system.

In 2006, a complex for the processing of liquid radioactive waste (CP LRW) was put into operation at the KNPP.
The LRW CP is intended for the extraction of liquid radioactive waste (distillation residue) from storage tanks and their purification from radionuclides (the first direction of processing). Thanks to the application the latest technologies the main radionuclides contained in the waste are concentrated in a minimum volume in a special filter-container. Unique technique ion-selective sorption, used at KNPP, allows to reduce the amount of radioactive waste to be disposed of by 50 times, as well as to get rid of all LRW accumulated at the station over 12-15 years.

Kola NPP is the northernmost NPP in Europe and the first nuclear power plant in the USSR built beyond the Arctic Circle. Despite the harsh climate of the region and the long polar night, the water near the station never freezes. The nuclear power plant does not affect the state of the environment, which is evidenced by the fact that a fish farm is located in the area of ​​​​the outlet canal, where trout is bred all year round.

1. The history of the Kola NPP began in the mid-1960s: the inhabitants of the union continued to actively develop the northern part of the territories, and the rapid development of industry required large energy costs. The country's leadership decided to build a nuclear power plant in the Arctic, and in 1969 the builders laid the first cubic meter of concrete.

In 1973, the first power unit of the Kola Nuclear Power Plant was launched, and in 1984 the fourth power unit was put into operation.

2. The station is located beyond the Arctic Circle on the shore of Lake Imandra, twelve kilometers from the city of Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk region.

It consists of four power units of the VVER-440 type with an installed capacity of 1760 MW and provides electricity to a number of enterprises in the region.

The Kola NPP generates 60% of the electricity in the Murmansk region, and in its area of ​​​​responsibility there are large cities, including Murmansk, Apatity, Monchegorsk, Olenegorsk and Kandalaksha.

3. Protective cap of reactor No. 1. Deep below it is the nuclear reactor vessel, which is a cylindrical vessel.
Hull weight - 215 tons, diameter - 3.8 m, height - 11.8 m, wall thickness is 140 mm. The thermal power of the reactor is 1375 MW.

4. The upper block of the reactor is a design that is designed to seal its vessel, accommodate drives of control systems, protection
and sensors for in-reactor control.

5. For 45 years of operation of the station, not a single case of exceeding natural background values ​​has been recorded. But the "peaceful" atom remains such only
with proper control and proper operation of all systems. Fifteen control posts were installed at the station to check the radiation situation.

6. The second reactor was commissioned in 1975.

7. Carrying case for 349 KNPP fuel cartridges.

8. The mechanism for protecting the reactor and plant from internal and external factors. Under the cap of each KNPP reactor there are forty-seven tons of nuclear fuel, which heats the water of the primary circuit.

9. Block control panel (BCR) - the think tank of the nuclear power plant. Designed to monitor the performance of the power unit and control technological processes at a nuclear power plant.

10.

11. The shift in the control room of the third power unit of the Kola NPP consists of only three people.

12. From such a large number of controls, eyes run wide.

13.

14. Model of the section of the active zone of the VVER-440 reactor.

15.

16.

17. The career of a nuclear specialist requires serious technical training and impossible without striving for professional excellence.

18. Engine room. Turbines are installed here, which are continuously supplied with steam from a steam generator, heated to 255 ° C. They drive a generator that generates electricity.

19. An electric generator inside which the rotational energy of the turbine rotor is converted into electricity.

20. The generator turbine, assembled in 1970 at the Kharkov Turbine Plant, has been in use for forty-five years. The frequency of its rotation is three thousand revolutions per minute. Eight turbines of the K-220-44 type are installed in the hall.

21. More than two thousand people work at the KNPP. For the stable operation of the station, the staff constantly monitors its technical condition.

22. The length of the machine room is 520 meters.

23. The pipeline system of the Kola NPP stretched for kilometers throughout the entire territory of the power plant.

24. With the help of transformers, the electricity generated by the generator enters the network. And the steam exhausted in the condensers of the turbines becomes water again.

25. open Switchgear. It is from here that the electricity that the station generates goes to the consumer.

26.

27. The station was built off the coast of Imandra, the largest lake in the Murmansk region and one of the largest lakes in Russia. The territory of the reservoir is 876 km², the depth is 100 m.

28. Chemical water treatment area. After processing, chemically desalted water is obtained here, which is necessary for the operation of power units.

29. Laboratory. Specialists of the chemical department of the Kola NPP make sure that the water chemistry regime at the plant meets the plant operation standards.

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31.

32. The Kola NPP has its own training center and a full-scale simulator, which are designed for training and advanced training of plant personnel.

33. The students are supervised by an instructor who teaches them how to interact with the control system and what to do in case of a malfunction of the station.

34. These containers store non-radioactive salt melt, which is the final product of liquid waste processing.

35. The technology for handling liquid radioactive waste from the Kola NPP is unique and has no analogues in the country. It allows to reduce the amount of radioactive waste to be disposed of by 50 times.

36. Operators of the complex for the processing of liquid radioactive waste monitor all stages of processing. The whole process is fully automated.

37. Discharge of treated wastewater into the outlet channel leading to the Imandra reservoir.

38. Waters discharged from nuclear power plants are classified as clean, do not pollute environment, but affect the thermal regime of the reservoir.

39. On average, the water temperature at the mouth of the outlet canal is five degrees higher than the water intake temperature.

40. In the area of ​​the KNPP bypass canal, Lake Imandra does not freeze even in winter.

41. For industrial environmental supervision at the Kola NPP, an automated system for monitoring the radiation situation (ARMS) is used.

42. A mobile radiometric laboratory, which is part of the ARMS, allows you to conduct gamma-ray surveys of the area along designated routes, perform air and water sampling using samplers, determine the content of radionuclides in samples and transmit the information received to the ARMS information and analysis center via radio channel.

43. Collection precipitation, sampling of soil, snow cover and grass is carried out at 15 permanent observation points.

44. The Kola NPP also has other projects. For example, a fish complex in the area of ​​​​the discharge channel of a nuclear power plant.

45. The farm grows rainbow trout and Lena sturgeons.

47. Polyarnye Zori is a city of power engineers, builders, teachers and doctors. Founded in 1967 during the construction of the Kola NPP, it is located on the banks of the Niva River and Lake Pin Lake, 224 km from Murmansk. As of 2018, about 17,000 people live in the city.

48. Polyarnye Zori is one of the northernmost cities in Russia, and winter here lasts 5-7 months a year.

49. Holy Trinity Church on the street. Lomonosov.

50. On the territory of the city of Polyarnye Zori there are 6 preschool institutions and 3 schools.

51. The system of lakes Iokostrovskaya Imandra and Babinskaya Imandra flows into the White Sea through the Niva River.

52. The White Sea is an inland shelf sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean, in the European Arctic between the Kola Peninsula Svyatoy Nos and the Kanin Peninsula. The water area is 90.8 thousand km², depths are up to 340 m.