At present 10 Russian Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) have 31 reactors in operation. Some of them have already reached their designated time limit, while others will reach it in near future, and a third group of NPPs will be in operation during the coming decades. At any rate, all of them will sooner or later have to be taken out of operation.
The decommissioning of old reactors is a complex long-term process. It requires an integrated solution of technological, environmental, social and economic problems. Therefore, preparations should be foreseen at the design stage. Unfortunately, in Russia no integrated solutions of nuclear power unit decommissioning has been developed either at the stage of plant design or during its operation. Such solutions have not materialized even after a lifecycle extension decision was taken for several reactors belonging to the first generation.
In the coming 10-15 years most of the currently operated NPP units will reach their designated lifecycle limit. Due to inherent limitations explained by the deterioration of structural qualities and unfeasibility of safety measures, the lifecycle extension of nuclear power units cannot be repeated again and again.
Since 2004 the network DecomAtom, involving environmental non-governmental organizations from Russia, Norway and Lithuania, has been working for an official decommissioning plan for the oldest Russian reactors.
