Concreting of the dome of the inner containment (VZO) has been completed at unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh. In total, more than 3200 cubic metres of concrete were laid on the structure with a height of 17.6 metres and a base diameter of 42.8 metres. “Concreting of the VZO dome is the final stage in the construction of a passive safety system,” said Alexey Deriy, Vice President of JSC ASE - Director of the Rooppur NPP construction project.
“At the next stages, the ropes of the containment prestressing system will be tensioned and the hermetic sheath will be tested,” he added.
The inner containment protects the reactor compartment, and also provides support for pipeline penetrations and the polar crane, with which the nuclear reactor is serviced.
The Rooppur plant is being built by Rosatom on the eastern bank of the Ganges River in Bangladesh’s Pabna district about 160 km northwest of the capital city of Dhaka. It will comprise two VVER-1200 reactors: Rooppur 1 is scheduled to start operating 2023, followed by Rooppur 2 in 2024.
Image: Concreting of the dome of the inner containment has been completed at unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh (photo courtesy of Rosatom)
