At Russia’s Kursk-II NPP the foundation for installation of a turbine has been commissioned in the unit 1 turbine building, the plant reported on 17 May. The foundation is both a building structure and a part of the turbine unit, since, along with the shafting, it will combine the turbine and the turbogenerator into a single machine - the turbine unit. Kursk-II will have the most powerful domestic low-speed turbine in Russia at 1255MW.
“The readiness of the foundation will make it possible to expand work on the installation of a turbine plant in the turbine hall at unit 1,” said Andrey Osharin, Acting Director of the Kursk NPP. “The turbine generator stator is already installed in the design position. Delivery of the turbine rotors is expected in July, and in early autumn we plan to set up the “shaft line” of the turbine and generator.
A foundation slab with a vibration isolation system based on cylindrical springs fastens 20 reinforced concrete columns about 20 metres high. This whole structure forms a single frame, which will carry the entire load from the turbine unit with a total weight of 3,500 tons.
“The foundation plate of the turbine unit at Kursk-II has its own innovative design features - it is separated from the turbine hall foundation with 89 vibration isolators. This makes it possible, firstly, to minimise the vibrations that occur on the turbine, and secondly, cut off and not transmit vibration to the foundation of the turbine hall. Such a design solution will extend the life of the turbine building as a whole,” said Kursk-II Chief Engineer Alexey Volnov.
The work on the installation of the foundation plate was carried out by specialists of Titan-2 JSC. The foundation was commissioned 10 days ahead of schedule. Some 80 specialists were involved in the work. Concreting of the slab began at the end of 2020. Since the foundation under the turbine plant is a complex building structure capable of accepting and evenly distributing significant loads arising during the operation of the turbine, its construction took place in several stages, each of which was subject to increased requirements for the quality of concrete.
The previous day, the first lift pumping station on the banks of the Seim River was put into operation at Kursk-II, three months ahead of schedule. Construction and commissioning were carried out by specialists of a separate subdivision of the Directorate of JSC NIKIMT-Atomstroy. The work was accelerated because of the need to launch the station during the flood period, to avoid the Seim becoming shallow and to maintain the ecological balance in the river basin.
Image: Turbine building at Unit 1 of the Kursk-II NPP (Source: Rosenergoatom, Kursk NPP)
