A ship carrying the first equipment for unit 1 of Egypt’s El-Dabaa NPP has left the port of St Petersburg. The consignment includes three main components of the melt localisation device (MLR - melt trap) manufactured by JSC Tyazhmash - a body, a filler and a melt catcher service platform. The 744-tonne body measures more than six metres in height and diameter.
“The dispatch of the first melt trap for the El-Dabaa NPP is a significant event for our entire team, commented Tyazhmash General Director Roman Larionov. “This project is one of the largest and most strategically significant in the modern history of our enterprise. The work is being carried out simultaneously for the four power units.”
The MLR is one of the main elements of the passive safety system and is a feature of all VVER-1200 reactors. The trap is a container in the form of a steel cone, which, in the event of an emergency, reliably holds fragments of the core melt and does not allow them to go beyond the hermetic shell of the reactor building. During NPP operation, the melt trap is filled with special materials, upon interaction with which the core melt loses some of the accumulated heat.
The El-Dabaa NPP will comprise four units with generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactors. The NPP is being constructed in accordance with contracts that entered into force in December 2017 based on an inter-governmental agreement signed by Egypt and Russia in 2015. The $30bn project is mainly financed through a $25bn Russian loan. Russia will supply nuclear fuel throughout the lifecycle of the plant, arrange for the training of the Egyptian personnel, and assist in the operation and maintenance of the plant for the first 10 years. Egypt expects that the NPP will reach full capacity by 2030. The reference plant for El-Dabaa is the Leningrad-II NPP. Alexander Korchagin, Senior Vice President for NPP Construction Project Management at Atomstroyexport JSC said the El-Dabaa project is proceeding exactly on schedule.
JSC Tyazhmash is one of the largest machine-building enterprises in Russia. The company was founded in 1941 and is currently a manufacturer of a wide range of equipment for thermal, hydro and nuclear power plants, as well as for metallurgical and mining plants, shipbuilding and spaceports. Work on the remaining melt trap equipment for power El Dabaa 1 is continuing. JSC Tyazhmash will will supply MLR equipment for all four units as well as polar cranes and reactor shaft equipment.
Image: Components of the melt trap for the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant in Egypt have left St Petersburg (courtesy of Rosatom)
