Atommash, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-technology (part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division, Atomenergomash) has begun shipment of equipment for unit 2 of the Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh. The consignment includes a VVER-1200 reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the first two steam generators. The RPV was manufactured over two years and included 768 operations, including 143 control points. The plant's specialists carried out the whole range of controls, including hydraulic tests of the hull with the standard upper block cover. During the tests, the maximum pressure (24.5 MPa) was created inside the reactor, which is 1.4 times higher than the operating pressure.
The final stage of equipment manufacturing is a control assembly with internals. A shaft, a baffle, and a block of protective pipes were installed in the reactor vessel in the design position. The plant's specialists, together with the customer's representatives, performed the control operations. All geometric parameters and alignment of elements were checked, and the quality of the manufactured product was confirmed.
The 320-ton reactor weighing is 12 metres long and two 340-ton steam generators are 14 metres long. The equipment will be taken to the plant's special berth and loaded onto a barge for delivery to Novorossiysk before being transported 14,000 km by sea to Bangladesh.
AEM-Technologies is the only company in Russia that produces a complete set of nuclear steam generating installations (NPPU) for NPPs. Atommash can produce up to four sets of equipment a year. For the two nuclear units in Bangladesh, AEM-Technologies has manufactured more than 50 types of equipment: reactor vessels, upper block, shaft, baffle, block of protective pipes, sets of steam generators, main circulation pipelines, main circulation pumps and other equipment. In total, over 4,000 tons of equipment will be shipped to the plant.
Image: Atommash has shipped the reactor vessel for Rooppur nuclear power plant (Photo credit: AEM)
