At unit 1 of Rooppur NPP under construction in Bangladesh the inspection of technological systems has begun. The general designer and general contractor is Rosatom’s Engineering Division, ASE.
At this stage, chemically desalinated water from the pressure compensator enters the reactor pressure vessel through the communication pipeline and primary circuit pipelines, washing the equipment and pipelines from contaminants remaining after installation.
“The passage of active and passive safety systems to an open reactor is one of the most important pre-launch operations. This is the first of a series of inspections of equipment and technological systems and the result of a long work of installers, adjusters and other specialists involved in the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh,” commented Alexei Deriy, Vice President of JSC ASE, Director of the project for the construction of Rooppur NPP. This makes sure that everything is mounted correctly and ready to go. In addition, this operation checks the operability of the pumping units of technological safety systems and normal operation systems.
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 Dhaka. It will comprise two VVER-1200 reactors. In November 2011, Russia and Bangladesh signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of the NPP and in mid-December 2015, a general contract was signed. In early 2017, the Russian government provided Bangladesh with a state loan of $11.38 billion to assist with the construction, which began in 2021.
Image: Desalinated water enters the reactor vessel to flush out any contaminants remaining after installation (courtesy of Rosatom)
