Vertical planning has begun at the site allocated for the construction of Russia’s Smolensk-II NPP. One of the main tasks of the preparatory work will be undertaken by JSC Concern Titan-2 (Rosatom’s Electric Energy Division), which is the general contractor for the project.
Russia’s Titan-2 is to build two new units with VVER-TOI reactors at the Smolensk-II NPP by 2032 and 2034. Smolensk-II will be built 6 km away from the Smolensk NPP which comprises three RBMK reactors, nearing the end of their design life. The first unit was commissioned in 1982 and has had its lifetime extended until 2027. The second unit has a permit to operate until 29 May 2025 and the third until 14 December 2034.
According to the roadmap three years are allotted for the formation of project documentation. A special project office coordinates and monitors implementation of the roadmap. It includes employees of nuclear utility Rosenergoatom and its branch for capital projects, as well as general designers and contractors. It will solve operational problems and ensure that the active phase of construction begins strictly according to plan.
In 2021, the Federal Agency for State Property Management issued an urban development plan, and the Centre for Humanitarian Demining examined the construction site for explosive items. In 2022, a land lease agreement was registered in Rosreestra, which approved the design assignment and construction schedule.
The site was chosen from three alternatives and territory in the area of the deserted village of Piatidvorka in the Roslavl area on the right bank of the Desnogorsk reservoir was chosen. On a site of 325 hectares Atomenergoprojekt conducted engineering and geological surveys. A total of 471 wells were drilled, the deepest, being 150 metres where the reactors will be. Samples of soil and water were delivered for laboratory analysis to the research institutes of Maloyaroslavtz and St Petersburg. A historical and cultural examination of the construction site took place in autumn 2022.
Work is underway on the design of access roads, railways, engineering communications, and the supply of electricity and water. The priority is housing for the builders. Based on the experience of building the Kursk-II NPP, it was estimated that at the peak of work in 2030 there will be over 9,000 people on site. In this regard, several apartment buildings are planned to be built in Desnogorsk, the operators town for the existing NPP. First concrete for the reactor building of unit 1 is planned for March 2027.
According to the deputy head of the capital construction department of the Smolensk NPP, Alexander Chebotarev, vertical planning is being carried out in areas cleared of vegetation. Excavators and bulldozers are levelling the site to the design level – earth is being removed from the hills and deposited in low areas and everything is compacted layer by layer. In addition, at the entrance to Desnogorsk, Titan-2 is building a temporary modular construction camp that will be able to accommodate thousands of construction workers.
“In order to begin concreting the foundation slab of the reactor building of power unit No. 1, it is necessary to erect supporting facilities as soon as possible,” said Chebotarev. “These are treatment facilities, utility networks, reinforcement facilities, a concrete mixing unit, warehouses, administrative buildings and others. We will start constructing the infrastructure in 2025, as soon as the state examination of the design documentation of these facilities is completed and we receive a construction permit.”
Smolensk NPP Director Pavel Lubensky said Smolensk-II will be the result of the evolutionary development of plants with VVER reactors, which Rosenergoatom Concern is already operating. “According to preliminary estimates, more than RUB700bn ($7.7bn) of investment will be allocated for the project. Thousands of labour resources will be required. It is likely that the general contractor will involve organisations in the region for assistance, which will ensure a rapid pace of construction.”
The development of design documentation for units 1&2 is planned to be completed in 2025. The general designer is JSC Atomenergoproekt. In accordance with the roadmap, by 2026 the main state examination of the design documentation for the main period of the construction should be completed and permission for the construction of the two units should be granted.
