The metal shell of the central cavity for the lead-cooled BREST-OD-300 fast neutron reactor under construction at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK – Sibirskovo Khimicheskovo Kombinata) in Seversk, Tomsk region.
Brest (Bistrii Reaktor Estestvennoi-bezopasnosti co Svinstovim Teplonositelem – Fast Natural-safety Reactor with Lead Coolant) is part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa), being built under the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology.
As well as Brest, ODEK also includes on-site nuclear fuel cycle facilities: a module for fabrication and refabrication (MFR-YaT – Modulya po Fabrikatsii/Refabrikatsii Yadernovo Tolpliva) and a module for reprocessing and recycling irradiated fuel.
The metal shell of the central cavity will hold the core basket, fuel assemblies and equipment for the reactor control and protection system.
The equipment was manufactured by Rosatom’s Mechanical Engineering Division and was delivered via the Northern Sea Route. Using a high-capacity crawler crane, the 143-tonne metal structure was raised to the height of a nine-story building and safely lowered into the reactor shaft. The equipment is more than 14 metres high with a diameter of about 8 metres. For its installation, a special traverse was made with a lifting capacity of 400 tonnes.
“After installing the shell of the central cavity, we plan to begin installing four shells of the peripheral cavity, where steam generators and circulation pumps will be located,” said Ivan Babich, Director of the Bress project at ODEK. “Together, all metal shells form a circuit for lead coolant circulation. The space between the cavities will be gradually filled with special heat-resistant concrete, which performs the function of radiation and thermal protection and ensures the structural strength of the boundary of the primary coolant circuit.”
