Reactor vessel assembly completed for second Belarusian unit

AEM-Technology has completed assembly of the reactor vessel for the VVER-1200 unit 2 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

AEM-Technology has completed assembly of the reactor vessel for the VVER-1200 unit 2 of the Belarus nuclear power plant, in Ostrovets, in the Grodno region. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.  

The assembled RPV for Ostrovets 2 (Image: Rosatom)

Preparations are now under way for the final welding together of the upper and lower halves of the vessel, AEM-Technology said today. Sealing the circumferential weld connecting the two halves takes ten days at a temperature of more than 200°C. The equipment will then undergo heat treatment tests, the company said. Work to produce the reactor internals is also under way, it said.

AEM-Technology announced in January it had completed welding of the lower half of the vessel for unit 2. The upper half was completed in December last year.

In March, AEM-Technology announced it had completed assembly of the internals for unit 1 of the plant. Consisting of about 300 parts, the internals are to be delivered to the Ostrovets site later this year, while the reactor vessel itself was shipped there in October last year.

The reactor vessel is a vertical cylindrical body with elliptical base, in which the active zone and internals are located. The top of the reactor is hermetically sealed with a lid with drive mechanisms as well as monitoring and protection systems attached.

Operation of the first unit of the Ostrovets plant is scheduled for November 2018 and the second unit in July 2020, to give 2340 MWe net capacity on line.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News