Kostroma Nuclear Power Plant

Kostroma NPP
Generation	Generation III+ reactor
Reactor concept	Water-moderated and water-cooled reactor
Reactor line	VVER (Voda Voda Energo Reactor)
Reactor types	4 VVER-1200 reactors
Main parameters of the reactor core
Fuel (fissile material)	235U (NU/SEU/LEU)
Fuel state	Solid
Neutron energy spectrum	Thermal
Primary control method	Control rods
Primary moderator	Water
Primary coolant	Liquid (light water)
Reactor usage
Primary use	Generation of electricity
Power (electric)	4800MW

Kostroma Nuclear Power Plant is an as-yet proposed, but currently non-existent nuclear power plant that was to be erected in the Buysky District, of Kostroma Oblast in Russia.

History

In the mid-1970s within the erstwhile Soviet Union, it was decided by the Soviet Council of Ministers under chairman Alexei Kosygin that two nuclear power stations would be constructed in Kostroma, using the RBMKP-2400 generation II reactor design.

Construction of the plant began in 1979, with several design changes made throughout; in the 1980s, Soviet planners decided to build two RBMK-1500| as opposed to the original RBMKP-2400 construction plan. In the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the plant's design was again re-drawn to use the VVER-1000 reactor design.; however, construction was later halted in the year 1990. During the 1990s, it was instead proposed that two VPBER-600 reactors be used (a variant of VVER-640), but never reached production stage.

A referendum on 8 December 1996 in Kostroma later rejected continued construction of the plant, based upon 87% voting against. By 1999, the Kostroma Regional Court and later Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled the Kostroma Regional Duma's decision to hold a referendum (date 25 April 1996, No. 278) illegal.

Per resolution No. 1574 of the Kostroma Region Duma, date 1 March 2007, all resolutions preventing construction were cancelled and, therefore, the resumed construction effort was to begin in earnest; by that time, on-site switchgear had already been installed that could handle up to 500kV.

Resumed construction efforts (2008)

On 14 October 2008, Kostroma's regional governor was presented with a Declaration of Intent to invest in the construction of two power units, signed by Rosatom State Corporation's then General Director, Sergey Kiriyenko. Public hearings held in 2009 discussed the potential environmental impact for power units No. 1 and 2 of the plant. Construction of the plant was also referenced by a government scheme to improve energy infrastructure within Russia, approved for construction until the year 2030 by order of the Russian government.

It was planned that the plant would be built in stages: between 2016 to 2020, two power units would be built using the VVER-1200 design with a capacity of 2300MW; later, two additional units would have been installed for a total capacity of 4600MW.

By April 2011, Rosatom had received a license from Rostekhnadzor (Russian energy regulator) for construction of the plant. However, Rosatom then announced that construction plans had been further postponed.

To this day, the Kostroma Nuclear Power Plant has never been built.

External links

• Kostroma nuclear plant discussed on Rosenergoatom website (Russian language page)
• Publication by Kirill Rubankov, titled Атомная радость ("Atomic Bliss") (Russian language page) // «Expert Online» /15 окт 2008