Installation of the first of the three tiers of the domed part of the internal containment shell (IZO) of the reactor building has been completed for unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh, Rosatom said on 27 July. The large-sized metal structure with a diameter of 44 metres and a weight of 185 tons was installed on the cylindrical part of the containment of the reactor building at an elevation of +44 metres.
The operation was carried out by specialists of the branch of Trest RosSEM using a Liebherr heavy crawler crane with a lifting capacity of 1350 tons. A day before the lift, a special mounting traverse of 15 steel cables was installed.
“The first of the three tiers of the domed part of the VZO has been assembled. The operation proceeded normally. At the next stage, the other two tiers will be installed to form the single block of the containment of the reactor dome. As soon as both structures are welded together, we will start concreting the dome,” said Alexey Deriy, Vice President – Director of the Rooppur construction project at Rosatom’s ASE. Preparations took several months. Specialists first arranged the metal structures of three tiers into two reinforced metal blocks weighing 185 tons and 191 tons on special slipways located in the immediate vicinity of the unit. 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.