The licence approval followed what it called a comprehensive analysis and inspection of equipment and documentation “to ensure compliance with modern safety and reliability requirements” and “the completion of modernisation and replacement measures for components that have reached the end of their service life”.
Vladimir Pereguda, plant director, said: “Work to extend the service life of existing power units at Russian nuclear power plants has been under way since 1998. Our units are no exception. This extended service life means more than just electricity generation. It also means jobs, continued production of unique isotope products, and the planned construction and commissioning of two new VVER-1200 units.”
Rostekhnadzor has also issued a licence for handling radioactive substances relating to the production of isotope products at the unit until 2030. The plant currently has the capacity to produce molybdenum-99, iodine-125, iodine-131, samarium-153, and lutetium-177, which are used in medical diagnosis and treatment.
Leningrad unit 4 was launched in 1981 with an initial service life of 30 years. Following earlier modernisation work its service life was extended by 15 years to 2026. Rosatom said it has generated about 300 billion kWh of electricity so far.
The Leningrad plant is one of the largest in Russia, with an installed capacity of 4,400 MWe, and provides more than 55% of the electricity demand of St Petersburg and the Leningrad region, or 30% of all the electricity in northwest Russia.
Leningrad units 1 and 2 – both 1000 MWe RBMK units – shut down in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Unit three was granted a five-year life extension in February 2025.
As the first two of the plant’s four RBMK-1000 units shut down, new VVER-1200 units started at the neighbouring Leningrad II plant. The 60-year service life of these fifth and sixth units (also known as Leningrad II-1 and Leningrad II-2) secures power supply until the 2080s. Units 7 and 8 – scheduled to be commissioned in 2030 and 2032, respectively – will replace units 3 and 4 as they get to the end of their operational life.
