“AEM-Technology” (part of Rosatom machine-building division – JSC “Atomenergomash”) announced the shipment of the first key elements of the nuclear island of the first Rooppur NPP unit, the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh's history. A VVER-1200 reactor and a steam generator, manufactured at the “Atommash” plant in Volgodonsk, the largest nuclear engineering production site in Russia, were shipped to the NPP construction site. The Rooppur NPP consists of two units with a capacity of 1200 MW each and will be put into operation according to the following schedule: the first unit will start working in 2023, and the second one in 2024.
General Director of JSC “Atomenergomash” Andrei Nikipelov said: “Manufacturing equipment with high quality and in time is one of our main priorities. In addition to that, despite a number of restrictions due to the coronavirus, we managed to ship the first reactor vessel for the Rooppur NPP according to the contractual obligations. Further, our equipment has a long way to go - it will travel another 14 thousand kilometers by sea to be at the construction site of the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh by the end of this year.”
Nuclear power plants on the base of the VVER-1200 reactor are characterized by an unprecedented level of safety, which allows them to be classified as generation “3+”. This has been achieved by the introduction of new "passive safety systems", which are able to function without operator intervention even when the station is completely de-energized. The life cycle of the reactors is 60 years with the possibility of further extension.
The transportation of massive equipment (the weight of the reactor vessel is 333.6 tons, the steam generator - 340 tons) is a complex logistic operation. From the “Atommash” site, the reactor vessel and the steam generator were separately transported by special automotive equipment to the pier of the Tsimlyansk water reservoir in Volgodonsk, in order to then sail to Novorossiysk, and from there - via the Black Sea and the Suez Canal - to the construction site - to Bangladesh.
In total for two power units of the Rooppur NPP, JSC “Atomenergomash” will manufacture over 14 types of equipment, including equipment for the reactor building: reactor vessels, sets of steam generators, main circulation pipelines, main circulation pumps, pressure compensation system equipment, emergency cooling systems and passive protection of the core, etc., as well as equipment for the turbine hall building: high-pressure heaters, vacuum, condensate and feed pumps, equipment for separation systems and reheating of the turbine unit. In total during 2018-2022 over 13,000 tons of unique equipment will be manufactured and shipped.
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The reactor vessel is a vertical cylindrical body with an elliptical bottom, inside of which the active zone and internals are located. The weight of the VVER-1200 reactor vessel exceeds 330 tons. The top of the reactor is hermetically sealed with a cover with drives of mechanisms and controls and reactor protection elements installed on it, as well as nozzles for outputting cables of in-reactor control sensors. The cover is fastened to the vessel with studs. In the upper part of the vessel there are nozzles for supplying and removing the coolant, as well as nozzles for emergency supply of the coolant when the circuit is depressurized.
The production cycle of manufacturing the VVER-1200 reactor vessel, from the delivery of blanks to shipment, takes 840 days. Since the start of production - 653 days. At each stage, the main priority is given to the issues of production quality and safety during subsequent operation. End-to-end quality control is carried out from the moment the production of metallurgical blank begins to the shipment of the finished product to the customer. All forged blanks undergo incoming inspection, which, in addition to visual and dimensional inspection and checking accompanying documentation, also includes ultrasonic test of the base metal in the amount of 100%.
The overall quality plan contains 143 control points. At the same time, all operations are carried out with the direct participation of representatives of the authorized organization, the Foreign Customer – BAEC and the BAERA Supervisory Authority.
In addition to visual and dimensional inspection, each weld joint is subjected to non-destructive testing: color flaw NDT, ultrasonic test, and ring welds of the reactor are X-ray inspected. After each operation affecting structural transformations in the metal (for example, heat treatment), a series of tests is carried out to confirm the compliance of the mechanical properties with the requirements of regulatory documents. All these works, within the framework of laboratory accreditation, are carried out by specialists who have been trained, certified and received admission to work.
Rooppur NPP is a nuclear power plant under construction according to the Russian project in the Republic of Bangladesh. The selected site for the construction of the station is located on the eastern bank of the Padma River, 160 km from the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. The Rooppur NPP is planned to be built within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Bangladesh, which was concluded in November 2011. In the fall of 2013, the foundation stone of the future power plant was laid. The plant will consist of two power units with VVER-type reactors, the life cycle of which is 60 years with the possibility of extension for another 20 years.
The NPP-2006 (VVER-1200) design is the latest generation of technologies for the nuclear power industry, which implements solutions aimed at further improving the safety of nuclear power plants. The project takes into account all modern requirements for the reliability of NPP operation, based on operating experience and resolving crisis situations.
