The Novovoronezh NPP is one of the oldest nuclear power providers in the Russian Federation. The commissioning of Power Unit No. 1 of the Novovoronezh NPP on 30 September 1964 paved the way for the formation of industrial nuclear power not only in Russia, but also in a number of countries of Eastern and Central Europe.
It is Russia’s first NPP with pressurized water reactors (VVER). In total, five power units with VVER-type reactors were built and commissioned at the Novovoronezh site. Each of the currently operating power units is the first of a kind power unit – a prototype of serial pressurized water power reactors: VVER-440 and VVER-1000.
The plant was built in three stages: the first stage: Power Units No. 1 (VVER-210 in 1964), No. 2 (VVER-365 in 1969), the second stage: Power Units No. 3 and No. 4 (VVER-440 in 1971 and 1972), the third stage: Power Unit No. 5 (VVER-1000 in 1980). Power Unit No. 1 was decommissioned in 1984, after 20 years of operation; Power Unit No. 2 was decommissioned in 1990. Nuclear fuel was removed from these power units, and they were transferred to a nuclear-safe state. Currently, three power units are in operation.
