NEWS |
round up
NEW BUILD CHINA GENERAL NUCLEAR (CGN) has completed the lifting of a 225-tonne dome at unit 2 of the Taipingling NPP in Huizhou (Guangdong province).The dome was raised to a height of 70 metres and installed in place. CNG company said this marked the project’s transition from the civil engineering phase to the equipment installation phase.
EGYPT HAS COMPLETED the construction of the foundation of the first VVER-1200 unit of the El-Dabaa NPP. The reactor pressure vessel for the unit is already being manufactured in St Petersburg.
PLANT OPERATION DAMAGE HAS BEEN detected in the inner parts of the feed water pumps of the turbine plant at Finland’s Olkiluoto 3 EPR reactor, plant owner-operator Teollisuuden Voima Oyj (TVO) said, adding that this will probably impact the progress of the trial operation of Olkiluoto 3 and the start of regular electricity production.
UPGRADES A MAINTENANCE AND refuelling outage is under way at the Krško Nuclear Power Plant in Slovenia, operating company NEK The overhaul is also preparing Krško for a periodic safety assessment planned for next year with the aim of extending its operating life for a further 10 years to 2033.
EQUIPMENT HUNGARY’S MINISTER OF Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations, Peter Szijjarto, said he expects the Franco- German consortium Framatome SAS - Siemens AG to provide equipment for the Paks-II NPP project in accordance with agreements. Paks-II, comprising two VVER-1200 reactors, is being built by Rosatom.
THE PETROZAVODSK BRANCH of JSC AEM-Technologies (part of the mechanical engineering division of Rosatom said it had manufactured the first pipe assembly of the main circulation pipeline for unit 7 of the Tianwan NPP under construction in China.
JSC RUSATOM AUTOMATED Control Systems (RASU, part of Rosatom) has completed the supply of electrical equipment to the Siberian Chemical Plant in Seversk, Tomsk Region for the Experimental Demonstration Energy Complex, which is being built under the Breakthrough (Proryv) strategic industry project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology.
Above: A Liebherr LR heavy crawler crane lifted the Rooppur NPP unit 2 reactor pressure vessel for transport into the central hall Photo credit: Oxanaso/
Shutterstock.com
Despite reports of delays in the construction of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh, steady progress is being achieved. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev paid a working visit to the plant timed to coincide with the installation of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) at unit 2 and the launch of a new training centre. The operation to install the 333.6-tonne
RPV was carried out in several stages. First, a Liebherr LR 11350 heavy crawler crane lifted it onto the transport portal of the power unit. Then, on a special transport trolley, it was moved to the central hall of the reactor compartment. Then, with the help of a polar crane, the RPV was rotated into a vertical position and installed on a support ring in the reactor shaft. The VVER-1200 RPV, manufactured by AEM-Technologies, is 11.18 metres in length with a diameter of 4.57 metres. Meanwhile,
Scandinavia Sweden and Finland look to new nuclear Sweden’s new centre-right coalition government which formally took office in October with Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson as Prime Minister, has adopted a programme which calls for the expansion of nuclear power. Earlier, four parties, comprising the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats announced a written agreement on policies – the Tidöavtalet. The section on
climate and energy included the following: ● The removal of prohibitions in the Environmental Code to allow new reactors at new sites and to permit more than 10 reactors in operation at the same time. “Vattenfall should immediately start planning new nuclear power at Ringhals and other suitable locations.” Necessary regulations should be developed to create the conditions for the construction and operation of small modular reactors (SMR) in Sweden. In addition, the permitting process for NPPs must be shortened. A single authority
8 | November 2022 |
www.neimagazine.com Progress at Rooppur
installation of the four steam generators for unit 2 is continuing following installation of overhead cranes in the turbine section of the unit. “A year ago, we witnessed the installation of
the first reactor vessel in its assigned place, and today the same operation was completed at the second unit,” said Likhachev. “We see that the construction of the first NPP in Bangladesh is proceeding actively, despite the obstacles that the pandemic has created for us. Following installation of the RPV, Likhachev took part in the opening ceremony of a new modern training centre at Rooppur NPP designed to train operating personnel of various categories. The Rosatom Technical Academy (RTA) developed all the necessary training and methodological programmes, which in the future will allow Bangladesh to independently train its personnel. The first two groups have begun studying at the centre and it is planned to train more than 50 groups RTA noted. 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. Rooppur 1 is scheduled to start operating 2023, followed by Rooppur 2 in 2024. ■
will be responsible for issuing permits. A special rule in the Environmental Code will also be introduced to expedite permits for new NPPs. The Radiation Safety Authority will look into how the permit process can be shortened.
● Energy policy will be changed from 100% “renewable” to 100% fossil-free.
● The conditions for investments in nuclear power must be strengthened through, among other things, government credit guarantees of SEK400bn ($35.6bn) with more generous terms than the present system. “The boundaries in today’s system of green credit guarantees need to be reviewed so that the credit guarantees can also be used for new construction of nuclear power”.
● New rules will be introduced that prevent politics from arbitrarily shutting down NPPs. “Nuclear power must be guaranteed the right to operate and produce electricity as long as the facilities are in good condition and operated safely. If the state forces a closure, owners must be entitled to compensation”. U
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