Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station - Accidents

Accidents

The two gravest incidents at Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant struck the two reactors which are now shut down. In 1977 half of the fuel rods melted down in the ABM-200 reactor. Operators were exposed to severe radiation doses and the repair work took more than a year. In December 1978 the same reactor caught fire when parts of the roof fell on one of the turbines' oil tanks. Cables were destroyed by the fire and the reactor went out of control. Eight people who assisted in securing cooling of the reactor core were exposed to increased radiation doses.

In recent years there have been problems with leakage of liquid metal from the BN-600 cooling system. In December 1992 there was a leakage of radioactive contaminated water at the reactor. In October 1993 increased concentrations of radioactivity in the power plant fan system were found. A leakage the following month led to a shutdown. In January and May 1994 there was a fire at the power plant. In July 1995 another leakage of liquid metal from the cooling elements caused a two-week shutdown of the reactor.

There is an increasing concern about radioactive contamination around the power plant. Several hotspots were discovered in the region as the radiation monitoring effort was extended in recent years.