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round up


NEW BUILD ROSATOM HAS BEGUN concreting of the turbine building foundation at unit 4 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkey. Some 17,500 cubic metres of concrete and 3,500 tonnes of reinforcement will be placed in the foundation slab.


RUSSIA IS STARTING design work for the construction of the Smolensk-II NPP where three upgraded 1,000MWe RBMK units are scheduled to close between 2028 and 2934. Two new VVER-TOI reactors will be built 6km away from the existing station.


KOREA HYDRO & Nuclear Power said unit 1 of the Shin Hanul NPP in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, has achieved criticality. Shin Hanul 1 is Korea’s 27th nuclear power unit. It obtained an operating licence from the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission in July 2021.


ROSATOM HAS INSTALLED the first steam generator at unit 1 of Russia’s Kursk-II NPP. Three more will be installed shortly, followed by installation of the reactor pressure vessel and the main circulation pipelines of the primary circuit.


EDF SAID A review of the schedule and cost for the two Hinkley Point C reactors in the UK had been finalised resulting in more delays and increased costs. The review concluded that the start of electricity generation for unit 1 is now targeted for June 2027, while the risk of further delay of the two units is assessed at 15 months.


CGN SAID INSTALLATION work had begun on the nuclear island of unit 1 at the San’ao NPP in China’s Zhejiang province. The project includes plans to build six units with Hualong One reactors. Construction of unit 1 began in December 2020 and unit 2 in December 2021. The two units are scheduled to start supplying electricity in 2026 and 2027, respectively.


FIRST CONCRETE WAS poured for unit 4 of China’s Xudabao NPP in Huludao, Liaoning province. It is one of four VVER-1200 reactors being built in China by Rosatom under a 2018 agreement. In parallel with this, the construction of unit 3 is progressing.


Iter Director-General Bernard Bigot dies


Above: Dr Bernard Bigot, who has died, led Iter for seven years


Dr Bernard Bigot, Director-General of the Iter Organisation, passed away on 14 May “due to illness”. Iter said he was “an inspirational leader” who over the past seven years had shaped every aspect of the project. His deputy, Dr Eisuke Tada, will take over leadership of the project while the Iter Council launches the search for a long-term successor. Massimo Garribba, Deputy Director General


for Energy of the European Commission and current Chair of the Iter Council, said: “The impact of Bernard Bigot’s leadership of the Iter project has been singular and without precedent; his courage, personal commitment, and sheer force of will have restored Iter to its rightful place as a hallmark of scientific and technological achievement.” Before his appointment at Iter, Dr Bigot


completed two terms as Chairman and CEO of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). Dr Bigot assumed office as Director-General


in March 2015 at a critical point in Iter’s history. “The project was experiencing significant difficulties, reflecting the managerial challenges inherent in both its complex, first-of-a-kind engineering and its multinational approach to design, manufacturing, and construction,” Iter noted. “Multiple Iter members were expressing their scepticism about the project’s viability, with some openly questioning their continued participation. Dr Bigot accepted these challenges with humility and unwavering resolve, proposing a multifaceted action plan that would execute sweeping reforms in its decision-making, project management and – above all – project culture.” The Iter Project, under construction in


Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France, is a first-of-a-kind global collaboration, with Europe contributing almost half of the costs of its construction. The other six members of this joint international venture (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the USA), are contributing equally to the rest. While still a work in progress, the Iter facility is more than 75% complete toward first


6 | June 2022 | www.neimagazine.com


plasma. Each member has completed first- of-a-kind components that have required unprecedented engineering innovation in multiple fields, from materials science and electromagnetism to cryogenics and robotics. In the past two years, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, these components have steadily arrived at the Iter site. Multiple support systems are now complete and beginning commissioning. The Iter vacuum vessel – with an interior volume of 1,400 m3 840 m3


– can contain of plasma, 10 times that of the largest


operating tokamak in the world. The vessel will measure 19.4 metres across


(outer diameter), 11.4 metres high, and weigh approximately 5,200 tonnes, and with the installation of in-vessel components it will weigh 8,500 tonnes. The Iter project achieved a major machine


assembly milestone on 11 May, as the first sub-section of the plasma chamber was lowered into the machine well. The weight of the component plus rigging – 1,380 tonnes – approached the nominal lift capacity (1,500 tonnes) of the double overhead bridge crane in the Iter Assembly Hall. This component represents one-ninth of the


complete toroidal plasma chamber. It is a modular assembly, each section


formed from a 40° vacuum vessel sector fitted with thermal shields, and two D-shaped vertical superconducting electromagnets, the toroidal field coils. Eight other similar assemblies will form the complete chamber and surrounding coil superstructure. Vacuum vessel sector No. 6, at the centre of


the assembly, and associated thermal shielding was manufactured and delivered by the Korean Domestic Agency. India fabricated the in-wall shielding inside the double walls of the sector and Russia supplied the upper port. The toroidal field coils (TF12 and TF13) were procured by the Japanese Domestic Agency. Korea designed and built the upending tool, the giant sector sub-assembly tools, the lift attachment closest to the load, and the column tool in the pit that will support the vacuum vessel during welding, while the European Domestic Agency supplied the overhead bridge cranes and the next-in-line rigging attachment that allows the cranes to work together. On the ground, the operation was


coordinated by the Iter Organisation construction team and its management-as- agent contractor Momentum, and executed by tokamak assembly contractor Dynamic SNC (Ansaldo Nucleare; Endel Engie; Orys Group Ortec; Simic; Ansaldo Energia; and Leading Metal Mechanic Solutions), crane operator Foselev, and metrologists. ■


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