Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

Fuel-handling assembly at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

The first accident at the plant occurred shortly after the first unit came online. On 7 January 1975, a concrete tank containing radioactive gases from Unit 1 exploded; there were no reported accident victims or radiation releases.[14][15]

Less than a month later, on 6 February 1975, the secondary cooling circuit of Unit 1 ruptured, releasing contaminated water into the environment. Three people were killed, and the accident was not reported in the media.[14][15]

On 28 November 1975, a fuel channel in Unit 1 suffered a loss of coolant, resulting in the degradation of a nuclear fuel assembly that led to a significant release of radiation lasting for one month. Immediately after the accident, the radiation level in Sosnovy Bor, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the affected power unit, was 600 mR/h; in total, 1.5 MCi was released into the environment.[16] The exposed inhabitants of the Baltic region were not notified of the danger. The accident was not reported in the media. Practically the same accident occurred in Unit 1 of the Chernobyl Power Station in 1982[14][15][17]

In July 1976 and again in September 1979, due to a poor safety culture, a fire broke out in a concrete vault containing radioactive waste. Water used in extinguishing the fires was contaminated, leaked into the environment, and entered the water table. This was not reported in the media.[17][15]

On 28 December 1990, during refurbishment of Unit 1, it was noticed that the space between the fuel channels and the graphite stack (contaminated during the 1975 accident) had widened. The contaminated graphite was spilled, and the radiation levels in the space under the reactor increased. Radiation was detected 6 km away from the unit, but this was not reported in the media.[17][15]

On 3 December 1991, due to faulty equipment and lax safety rule compliance, 10 new fuel rods were dropped and damaged. The staff tried to conceal the accident from the plant's management.[15]

In March 1992, an accident at the plant leaked radioactive gases and iodine into the air through a ruptured fuel channel. This was the first accident at the station that was announced in the media.[18]

On 27 August 2009, the third unit was stopped when a hole was found in the discharge header of a pump.[19] According to the automated radiation control system, the radiation situation at the plant and in its 30-kilometre (19 mi) monitoring zone was normal.[19] The plant's management refuted rumors of an accident and stated that the third unit was stopped for a "short-term unscheduled maintenance", with a restart scheduled for 31 August 2009.[20]

On 19 December 2015, unit 2 was stopped (scrammed) due to a broken steam pipe. No radioactively contaminated material was released.

On 21 December 2018, the first unit of Leningrad NPP was shut down for decommissioning. The full unloading of the nuclear fuel from within the unit is planned to take until 2023.[21]

Production of Leningrad Units 1-4, 1974-2017 (TWh/year)

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  Reactor hall of one of the RBMK units
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  Construction site for Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant II, April 2010

• Nuclear power in Russia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.

• Leningrad NPP – official website of the plant (in Russian)
• Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant – official website from operator (in English and Russian)
• Ecologists Slam Nuclear Power Plant