Russia’s OKB Gidropress (part of Ropsatom’s engineering division Atomenergomash) said on 4 December it had shipped a set of equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant under construction in Bangladesh.
Gidropress has completed the shipment of a set (135 pieces) of stepping electromagnetic drives for the control and protection system (CPS drive SHEM-3) for Rooppur 1. The shipment was made after the successful completion of the acceptance tests at the hot run-in stands and after the acceptance inspection of the drives.
The inspection was carried out by representatives of the authorised organisation VPO ZNPP, as well as by VO Safety, representing the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA), in order to check the quality of the drives, their compliance with the customer's requirements and readiness for shipment.
CPS drive SHEM-3 is designed for starting, power control and shutdown of the reactor by inserting control rods into or out of the core.
Meanwhile, the cylindrical part of the inner containment (VZO) at Rooppur 1 has been concreted. “A milestone has been achieved - the end of the concreting of the 4th tier of the inner containment up to the +38,500 metre mark of power unit No. 1. This work was completed almost a month ahead of schedule,” said the vice president and project director for the Rooppur NPP Sergey Lastochkin.
Specialists of the contracting organisation Trest RosSEM used 1044 cubic metres of concrete for the work. The builders have now begun to manufacture elements of the domed part of the shell. The installation of metal structures and concreting of the dome is planned to be completed in July 2021.
The reactor pressure vessel and a steam generator were also delivered from Russia to Rooppur in November. Rooppur NPP is being built by Rosatom with two VVER-1200 reactors. Rooppur 1 is currently scheduled to start operating 2023, followed by Rooppur 2 a year later.
