Russia’s Atommash, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies (part of Rosatom’s engineering division, Atomenergomash) will manufacture the main equipment for the China’s Xudabao NPP, Atomenergmash said on 12 February. AEM-Technologies has been contracted to manufacture and supply two VVER-1200 generation 3+ reactor plants, two sets of steam generators, the main circulation pump, the emergency core cooling system hydraulic tanks and two pressure compensators. The total weight of the products will be about 6,000 tons.
At present, the blanks of the shells for the steam generators and the reactor vessel have passed inspection, and production has begun. Mechanical processing of one 92-ton shell of the reactor vessel branch pipe zone takes 15 days. In parallel, preparations are under way for anti-corrosion surfacing of the reactor core shell. The shells of the steam generators, each weighing 37 tons, are processed during six days. As the 16 workpieces are processed, the specialists will start manufacturing the steam generator casings.
General Director of AEM-Technologies Igor Kotov noted that Xudabao NPP is the second Chinese project to have equipment manufactured by AEM-Technologies. “We already have extensive experience of constructive interaction with Chinese colleagues, and our equipment has proven itself in the Chinese market. I am confident that the work within the framework of the new project will fully meet the expectations of our partners and will once again confirm the high competencies of the Russian nuclear power engineering industry,” he stressed.
The reactor comprises a vertical cylindrical casing with an elliptical bottom, inside of which the in-casing devices are placed. The top of the reactor is hermetically sealed with a lid with drives of mechanisms and controls and protection of the reactor installed on it and nozzles for outputting cables of sensors for in-reactor control. Each of rhe four steam generators has a diameter of more than 4 metres, a length of 14 metres, and weighs 340 tons.
Two Russian-design VVER-1200 reactors are planned for units 3&4 of the Xudabao NPP in Liaoning province. The launch of unit 3 is scheduled for 2027 and unit 4 for 2028. The project is being developed by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).
The Xudabao plant was originally planned to have six Chinese-designed CAP1000 reactors (based on Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design), with units 1 and 2 in the first phase. Site preparation began in 2010 and the National Development and Reform Commission approved the project in 2011. The National Nuclear Safety Administration approved the site selection for Xudabao 1 & 2 in 2014, with the option for four more units. However, in 2018 Rosatom signed a framework contract for the serial construction of the two VVER-1200 reactors at Xudabao with the possibility of building further units in the future.
