Work has been completed at unit 4 of Russia’s Rostov NPP on concreting the bowl for the first of four drainage basins being built for a complex of fan cooling towers. The pools are designed to accumulate and create a supply of chilled water. The volume of each bowl will be about 4,400 cubic metres with a depth of more than five metres. It is planned to be put into operation in 2027.
The fan cooling tower complex will provide additional cooling to unit 4 during the summer maximum temperature period, when the load on operating equipment increases. Construction began in July 2025. A similar complex has been operating since 2021 for unit 3 and has proved highly efficient.
“This technical solution was developed and approved by [nuclear utility] Rosenergoatom specifically for the Rostov NPP, the southernmost NPP in Russia,” said Rostov NPP Chief Engineer Andrey Gorbunov. “In summer, in the region where the NPP is located, the air warms up above 40°C, and the soil temperature reaches 60°C. Fan cooling towers offer additional cooling, increasing the safety and reliability of the largest energy facility in the region, on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of which the energy security of the South of Russia depends. This includes the well-being of residents, the stable operation of enterprises, the economy of the Don, Kuban and Stavropol.
The complex of fan cooling towers consists of 16 sections and provides a flow of cooled water with a volume of 45,000 cubic metres per hour. Its operation, in addition to the evaporative cooling tower, creates a gentle regime for the main equipment and increases the safety and reliability of operation of the power unit during periods of extremely high air temperatures in the hot southern summer. Units 1&2 at the Rostov NPP are cooled by water from the cooling reservoir.
