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Ozharovsky: Accident Near Voronezh Is Other Warning Sign for the Belarusian NPP

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Ozharovsky: Accident Near Voronezh Is Other Warning Sign for the Belarusian NPP
Andrei Ozharovsky

The same power unit that is included in the project of the Astravets NPP has broken down at the Russian NPP - 2006.

Well-known Russian nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky writes in Belorussky Partisan.

The Russian NPP-2006 in Voronezh has faced the first serious accident. On November 10 a new power unit was switched off because of failure of the electric generator. Damaged electrical equipment needs to be replaced and the power unit requires long-term maintenance.

Only a week later Rosatom confirmed the accident at the sixth power unit recently put into service, it damaged the electric generator unit.

Generator stator will be replaced. Design deficiency of the electrical equipment while installation or operation is one of the most possible reasons of the accident. If errors introduced when designing are discovered, it will require replacement of electric generator units at all similar NPPs under construction, including the Belarusian one.

The world's first power unit with virtually experimental equipment has found itself ineffective, as it was predicted by experts of the Belarusian Anti-Nuclear Campaign.

The sixth power unit of the New Voronezh NPP (NV NPP) has been put into service this August. On October 26 it was fully loaded in the pilot production mode. After two weeks of nominal output the power unit was switched off. According to the statement published on the NPP's website, overnight into November 10, 2016 the failure of the electric generator occurred when testing the power unit No. 6 of the NV NPP. It caused cold standby operation". "The optimal decision less affecting the testing period of the power unit implied the replacement of the generator stator". Thus, the NPP's director Vladimir Povarov believes that "there is nothing unusual in fault of some parts of the equipment."

Such opinion confirms concerns of opponents about reliability of such equipment provided by the Rosatom at the construction site in Belarus.

According to unofficial information, there were two failures: generator failure was followed by failure of the standby transformer. But standby diesel generators commissioned, and the plant continued operation. On November 10 we were a step close to testing of two innovations - passive decay heat removal system and much-lauded core catcher. But, perhaps, these untested systems are as unreliable as the new electric generator.

"The newer - the better" does not always work, opponents of the dangerous experiment warned.

And words pronounced by the new director of the Rosatom Alexey Likhachev when his recent visit to the Astravets NPP look ridiculous: "it is essential that the project of the Belarusian NPP has a reference project implemented in Russia - I mean power unit No. 6 of the NV NPP."

Now we can wonder whether the experimental power generator of the Belarusian NPP is as temperamental as Novovorozezh one.

It should be noted that Rosatom's secrecy is proved one more time. According to tradition, the official report on the incident appeared only yesterday, a week after the event. It is hard to imagine how long it could not be informed about an accident with serious radiological consequences.

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