The roof of the turbine building for unit 1 of Russia’s Kursk-II NPP is being installed, the plant said on 28 April. The roof comprises eight block trusses, the heaviest of which weighs 182 tons. The first section of metal structures of the roof covering has been put in place. The 143-ton roof truss block is 60 metres long and 13 metres wide, and was assembled using a Demag crane.
“The installation will be carried out using Terex Demag CC8800 and Manitowoc cranes,” said Aleksey Buldygin, head of the construction department at Kursk-II. “The total weight of all installed metal structures of the roof trusses of the building will be 1,044 tons. A distinctive feature of our site is that the trusses are mounted already sheathed with profiled sheet. This approach significantly reduces crane time and ensures the safety of personnel, since it is safer to cover the structure with a profiled sheet during large-scale assembly on the ground than at a height."
The installation is carried out in several stages. First, the block is enlarged on a specially equipped site, which makes it possible to assemble the block truss, according to the design geometry. The enlarged blocks of trusses then undergo quality control and assessment of the conformity of the work, after which they are installed in the design position on the columns of the turbine building at a height of 41.9 metres. Once the truss blocks are installed, the turbine building will reach a height of 49 metres. Installation should be completed in May.
Kursk-II is a replacement station for the current Kursk nuclear plant. Commissioning of the first two units with the new design VVER-TOI reactors will be synchronised with the decommissioning of the RBMK reactors at Kursk 1&2 of the operating plant.
