“The first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor,” the concern said.
It is noted that in this way the so-called physical start-up phase was launched at the power unit.
In total, 163 fuel assemblies with nuclear fuel will be loaded into the VVER-1200 reactor. After that, a controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in the reactor begins: the actual physical start-up, then the energy start-up - the start of the power unit supplying electricity to the network, pilot-industrial operation and complex testing of the unit at rated power.
All this is planned to be completed during 2020.
The commissioning of the new power unit is scheduled for 2021.
Earlier it was reported that Russian nuclear power plants in 2019 set a new record for electricity generation, producing almost 209 billion kilowatt hours.