Moscow - March, 31 - ASE Engineering Company (JSC EC ASE, a subsidiary of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy Corporation) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) as the operating entity in India of the Kudankulam NPP (KKNPP), have signed the provisional acceptance certificate of Unit 2 of the KKNPP, which allows the unit to begin its one-year period of warranty operation. For NPCIL, this is the first step towards the commercial operation of the unit.
As of today, the Unit 2 of the KNPP in India is under the warranty of its general designer and the suppliers of equipment from Russia, which are represented by ASE Engineering Company. This means that, in case of any malfunctions or technical failures related to the obligations of ASE at the Unit 2 of KKNPP, the inconsistencies in the operation of the equipment will be taken care of by the Russian side. This period of responsibility will last until March 30th, 2018, after which the Statement on the final acceptance of Unit 2 by the operating entity in India will be signed.
“The Kudankulam NPP project includes a combination of active and passive safety systems. The nuclear power plant has implemented a number of systems that fulfill the IAEA post-Fukushima requirements,” Andrei Lebedev, Vice President for South Asian projects, said. “Warranty operation testifies particularly to the complete confidence of our Indian partners in Russian nuclear technologies.”
The beginning of warranty operation indicates the successful completion of all necessary work and tests on the unit. The power plant has already generated billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity in the Indian national power grid and its future contribution to the country's stable, reliable energy supply cannot be overestimated.
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Kudankulam NPP
The Kudankulam NPP (KKNPP) Unit 2 built with the technical assistance of ASE Group of Companies was brought up to full power for the first time in late January 2017. On August 29th, 2016 the Unit 2 was connected to the power grid of India. Physical start-up of KKNPP Unit 2 took place on May 11th, 2016 when the first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor of the unit following the completion of all preparatory works. In total, 163 fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor. All works were conducted jointly by Indian and Russian specialists in strict compliance with the schedule and safety regulations. The permit for loading of the fuel assemblies was issued by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Body of India (AERB) after a detailed review of all the Safety Reports prepared earlier. The loading of fresh fuel into the KKNPP Unit 2 reactor was successfully completed on May19th, 2016. The works were performed in automatic mode in less than 7 days, 4 days ahead of schedule. Subsequently, following the examination by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the fuel loading the reactor pressure vessel was sealed. On June 28th, 2016 the AERB issued a permit for bringing the power unit to the minimum controlled power level which was done on July 10th, 2016.
АSE Group of Companies
АSE Group of Companies was established within the framework of development of Rosatom engineering division, by uniting three leading companies of the industry, namely JSC ASE EC, JSC Atomstroyexport, JSC Atomenergoproekt and JSC Atomproekt. ASE Group of Companies is one of the world leaders in nuclear power engineering and holds over 30% of the global NPP construction market. The Group has representative offices, branch offices and operational offices in 15 countries around the world, with almost 80% of its portfolio coming from projects abroad. ASE also provides services in the field of construction of facilities for RAW and SNF management, thermal power plants as well as a full range of EPC, EPC(M) and PMC services for any complex engineering facilities. ASE Group of Companies has developed and extensively implemented Multi-D innovative project management system for construction of complex engineering facilities which enables to effectively manage such parameters as the budget, the construction period and the quality. The company’s CEO is Valery Limarenko.