Installation of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) at unit 4 of Russia’s Rostov nuclear NPP is almost complete, the plant said on 5 September. The ECCS third accumulator tank is now installed, and the fourth accumulator tank will be delivered to the installation area shortly. Two accumulator tanks were installed late last year. At the same time, in the reactor department, pressure tests are underway, the refuelling machine has been adjusted, and trial runs of motor-driven valves and other mechanisms have been completed. The turbine has also been installed. Unsealed reactor tests are planned for the end of this year and start-up is planned for 2017.

Meanwhile, Rostov unit 3 was shut down on 6 September for scheduled repair and maintenance. The work will take 45 days. It will include major overhaul of the reactor with complete unloading of fuel assemblies from the reactor core, repair of essential equipment for the reactor, repair of safety systems, major overhaul of the high-pressure cylinder of the steam turbine with removal of the rotor, and repair of the essential process equipment.

The first criticality of Rostov-3 with a VVER-1000 reactor was achieved in November 2014 followed by first power in December and commissioning for commercial operation in September 2015. Since December 2015 the power unit has been operating at an uprated thermal power of 104%. On 6 September, a worker at unit died after a fall, the Russian Nuclear Community reported on its website. The worker, a 30-year-old male employee of contractor Yug Spetsavtomatika, fell 15 metres and died on the way to hospital. A preliminary account of the cause of the accident is "failure to comply with safety regulations", according to the news report.