At the construction site of Leningrad NPP unit 8 (also known as Leningrad-II unit 4) general contractor Titan-2 has completed the installation of two more components of the core catcher (melt localisation device): a 78-tonne service platform and a 148-tonne console truss, both of which have been positioned and secured within the reactor shaft.
The service platform provides operational and maintenance access for the core catcher and its monitoring sensors. The console truss supports the core catcher’s operational and accident functions, protecting personnel and shaft structures from high temperatures and neutron/gamma radiation.
The core catcher vessel and its filler material were earlier installed in the summer. Upon completion of the subsequent installation of the bottom slab, the total weight of equipment installed in the shaft will reach approximately 570 tonnes.
The installation adopted a combined construction and installation method, where installation work proceeds in parallel with civil construction, effectively compressing the construction schedule. The reactor vessel is planned for installation in 2029. The core catcher is a passive safety system of Russian design that can receive and cool molten core material without human intervention or power supply, preventing severe accident consequences from breaching the containment.
“In the context of the work carried out at the main facility of the unit, we are not only erecting walls and ceilings and filling them with pipelines, embedded materials, sensors and cable products, but also, tier by tier, reinforcing and concreting the reactor containment and installing equipment. “Today this building structure is 30% ready,” said Konstantin Khudyakov, Director of the programme for Leningrad NPP facilities at Titan-2.
Currently Leningrad NPP has four units in operation – units 3&4 with Soviet RBMK-1000 reactors, as well units 5&6 with new VVER-1200 units (also known as Leningrad-II 1&2). Units 5&6 replaced the RBMK-1000 reactors at units 1&2, which were decommissioned in 2018 and 2020. New VVER-1200 units (7&8), now under construction, will replace units 3&4. Unit 7 is scheduled to begin operation in 2030 and unit 8 in 2032.
