2nd reactor at Kalinin NPP brought out of cold shutdown

TVER, January 8 (Itar-Tass) - The 2nd reactor at the Kalinin nuclear
power plant was brought out of cold standby at 17:07, Moscow time, on
Thursday, an NPP official told Itar-Tass, noting that "operational control
restrictions will continue for the period of New Year holiday."
The 2nd reactor was powered down on January 2. "As of 18:30, Moscow
time, its power was at 320 megawatt, and continued to increase," he said.
At present, the Kalinin NPP operates three nuclear reactors. The first
and the third are functioning at their rated capacities. Their aggregate
power reaches 2,065 megawatt. "The radiation on the NPP premises and in
the adjacent territory keeps within the natural radioactivity background
level," the NPP official underlined.
The plant operates VVER-1000 reactors, each with a rated power of
1,000 megawatt. It transmits power through three 330-kilowatt lines and
four 750-kilowatt lines. The third reactor is the newest among the 31
reactors at 10 Russian nuclear power plants. Together with the fourth
reactor, currently under construction, it makes the 2nd phase of the
plant, due to be completed in 2011.
The construction of the 2nd reactor began in November 1981, and in
December 1986, a government commission signed an acceptance act.
In April, it was brought to rated power, thus completing the
construction of the first phase of the Kalinin nuclear power plant.
The Kalinin NPP, an affiliate of the Rosenergoatom concern, is the
largest electricity producer in central Russia. It is planned that in six
years, the Russian NPPs will account for a quarter of electricity produced
in the country. At present, they only generate 16 percent of all power.
The Kalinin NPP is located in the Udomlya district, in the north of
the Tver region, 330 kilometers from Moscow and 400 kilometers from St
Petersburg. It supplies electricity to eight Russian provinces.
-0-myz