Steam generators shipped to second Belarusian unit

Russia's AEM-Technology has started shipment of a set of four PGV-1000 steam generators to the site of unit 2 of the nuclear power plant under construction in Ostrovets, Belarus. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

Russia's AEM-Technology has started shipment of a set of four PGV-1000 steam generators to the site of unit 2 of the nuclear power plant under construction in Ostrovets, Belarus. Based in Volgodonsk, Russia, AEM-Technology is part of Atomenergomash, itself a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

The four steam generators on board the barge (Image: Rosatom)

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. AEM-Technology announced in late May that it had completed assembly of the reactor vessel for the VVER-1200 unit 2.

In a statement today, AEM-Technology said the steam generators were transported over four nights by road prior to being transferred to a barge on the Tsimlyansk reservoir. The equipment will be sent by water to Veliky Novgorod where it will be loaded onto a railway conveyor for transport to Belarus. The total length of the route is 3000 kilometres, it added.

Rovshan Abbasov, a director at AEM-Technlogy, said the steam generators had been assembled according to a "single chain within walking distance" between the components. "We will use this accumulated positive experience in the implementation of the next project, the manufacture of steam generators for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India, which has started," he added.

Rosatom awarded Abbasov its employee of the year award in 2016 for his team's work on increasing efficiency in the production of steam generators.

This work included eliminating wasteful efforts in technological operations at the manufacturing site in Volgodonsk and minimising as far as possible deficiencies in the welding process, AEM-Technology said. This led to a reduction by two months in the manufacture of the set of steam generators compared to the current industry standard, it added.

Each PGV-1000 steam generator has a diameter of just over 4 meters, a height of 5 meters and a length of 15 meters. It weighs 340 tonnes and an operating life of 40 years.

AEM-Technology says it currently has the technological capacity to produce eight steam generators per year.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News