News / Brèves Energy of the Future / L’énergie du futur Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Russian Architect-Engineer Completes Installation of Novovoronezh II-2 Reactor Pressure Vessel 4 March 2015 Workers move the component into the reactor building EIRNS—AtomEnergoProekt (AEP) has announced the installation of the 330-ton Novovoronezh II-2 (Novovoronezh 7)reactor pressure vessel (RPV). A two-phased operation, the RPV was lifted using the Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer’s DEMAG crane to the pressurized zone in its first phase in late February. In the second phase, a polar crane installed the vessel. Rosatom announced in late January the complete installation of Novovoronezh II-1 (Novovoronezh 6), and the reactor is now awaiting its reaching criticality. Both Units 6 & 7 are of 1,114-MW power capacity. Unit 7 is expected to become critical in 2017. These reactors are an evolutionary development from the VVER-1000. Novovoronesh is on the Don River about 30 miles south of Voronezh. This site was vital to the development of the VVER design; every unit built was essentially a prototype of its design. The first nuclear power plant at Novovoronezh was begun in 1957 and commissioned in 1964. Meanwhile, the Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH) website reported today that the Ministry of Education and Science and the Agency of Strategic Initiatives (ASI) are preparing a National Technology Initiative that will determine the direction of Russia’s scientific-technological development over the next 20-30 years. Russia has not engaged in such planning since the 1980s. The objective is not only to achieve technological independence, but also to guarantee Russian leadership in the areas that will determine the development of the world economy. Ramtanu Maitra