Russia site on Gulf of Finland already has four units in operation
The first tier of the inner steel containment has been installed for Unit 3 of the Leningrad 2 nuclear power station on the Gulf of Finland in Russia, state nuclear corporation Rosatom said.
The unit, Leningrad 2-3, will be a VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor with a net capacity of 1,150 MW. Construction began in March 2024.
The inner containment is designed to preserve hermetic conditions during reactor operation and prevent radioactive leakage into the environment in the event of an emergency.
Rosatom said the first tier weighs 227 tonnes, has a height of 10 metres and a diameter of 44 metres.
A VVER-1200 inner steel containment has seven cylindrical tiers. The fifth tier is a transition section between the main cylinder portion and the dome. The dome itself is composed of a lower and upper tier
The Leningrad site has four units in operation and two that are permanently shut down. The operational units are Leningrad-3 and Leningrad-4, Leningrad 2-1 and Leningrad 2-2.
Leningrad-1 and Leningrad-2, both Soviet-era RBMK-1000 light-water graphite units, were permanently shut down in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
Leningrad-3 and Leningrad-4, also Soviet-era RBMK-1000 light-water graphite units, are scheduled for closure.
Concrete was poured in March 2025 for an eight unit, Leningrad 2-4.
