AEM-technologies Petrozavodskmash (part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division Atomenergomash) is shipping pipe components for unit 7 of China’s Tianwan NPP. Corrosion coating is pre-applied to the inner surfaces of the pipes before assembly. A shipment of three pipe components left the production site by land at the start of a 7,000 km trip to China.
The components, with an internal diameter of 850 mm and a total length of 146 metres, connect the main equipment of the first circuit of the NPP – reactor, steam generators and main circulation pumps. They are designed to carry coolant at temperatures up to 330ºC under high pressure of 160 atmospheres. To protect the pipeline from the aggressive effects of the coolant an anti-corrosion coating is applied to the forged blanks. Petrozavodskmash was the first plant in Russia to master the technology for the manufacture of seamless plugged pipes for NPPs.
The agreement for construction of Tianwan units 7&8 was signed by Russia and China in 1918 and commissioning is scheduled for 2026-2027. Tianwan NPP is owned and operated by the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, whose shareholders are CNNC (50% stake), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%). Currently, six units are operating at Tianwan NPP: units 1-4 with Russian design VVER-1000 reactors, commissioned between 2007 to 2018, and units 5&6 with Chinese ACPR-1000s, commissioned in 2020 and 2021.Units 7&8 are VVER-1200 reactors.
Image courtesy of Rosatom
