The Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia (Rostechnadzor) has granted a license to Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company (a part of the Electric Power Division of the ROSATOM) to operate the 1st power block of the Bilibino NPP, which has now been stopped for decommissioning, in a no-generation mode.
The license is valid for 15 years and expires in 2034.
This is one of the stages in an NPP block’s lifecycle, which comes between its power operation and complete shutdown. At this stage, Rosenergoatom as an operating company will have to both switch the NPP block to the nuclear-safe mode and develop an appropriate set of documents advocating the nuclear and radiological safety of this power block upon its shutdown. These are required to obtain a license from Rostechnadzor to move to the next step, which is the shutdown of the 1st power block.
As of now, the 1st power block of the Bilibino NPP has been stopped, and the spent nuclear fuel has been removed from the reactor core into the cooling pond. The 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th power blocks are still operating and cater for reliable electric power supply for the Chaun-Bilibino energy system consumers as well as for heat and hot water supply for the consumers in the Bilibino city. The dispatch schedule of the electric and heating load is adhered to. The background radiation at the plant and within its location area does not exceed the one typical for normal power block operation and does not exceed the natural background.
