Shamim Jahangir:
Key components for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) have been manufactured at a faster pace during the pandemic.
Among them, the reactor for the Rooppur NPP unit 2 was manufactured 10 days faster and steam generators 5 days faster that it took for unit 2
Director of the Volgodonsk Branch of JSC “AEM-technology” Rovshan Abbasov said this while talking to the Daily Sun in an exclusive interview.
“Under the conditions of the pandemic we had to continue meeting the strictest requirements of the supervision authorities in Russia and representatives of the customer,” he said.
With it, the Atommash employees even managed to improve the efficiency of equipment production and set up a new record in the history of the Russian nuclear mechanical engineering, he said.
Rovshan Abbasov said, “In 2020, three reactor pressure vessels and 18 steam generators were manufactured. Two reactor pressure vessels for Akkuyu NPP in Turkey and the first reactor and nine steam generators for Rooppur NPP were shipped.”
“The reactor for Rooppur NPP Unit 2 was manufactured 10 days faster and steam generators 5 days faster than it took for same equipment for Rooppur NPP Unit 1,” he said.
According to him, all that was done with observance of all quality requirements and the strictest inspection at all stages.
“One can say that 10 days are not so much, but considering that the equipment for Unit 1 was manufactured intensively to find even fewer days for acceleration within a year is indeed an achievement,” he stressed.
Besides, General Director of the Volgodonsk Branch of JSC “AEM-technology” Igor Kotov said the JSC “AEM-technology” supplies two reactor plants for Rooppur NPP.
One reactor plant consists of a reactor of VVER-1200-type with
internals, 4 steam generators, a pressurizer, ECCS accumulators, two reactor coolant pumps and pipelines, according to him.
The equipment is supplied by the Volgodonsk and Petrozavodsk Branches, he said.
“The specialists started manufacturing the main equipment in the spring of 2019.
The first reactor pressure vessel and a set of steam generators were manufactured and shipped in 2020, he said.
The reactor pressure vessel for Unit 2 was completed in 2021 and on 19 April, 2021 this key equipment was shipped.
“It took 653 days to manufacture the reactor pressure vessel. All 143 check points have been passed successfully. The equipment complies with all quality standards and safety requirements provided for in technical documentation,” he added. Igor Kotov said the Volgodonsk Branch manufactures completely two reactors with internals and two sets of steam generators with support elements and steam headers for Rooppur NPP.
At the beginning of this year the support elements and steam headers of the steam generator were shipped.
Atommash will also supply internals – core barrel, core baffle, protective tube unit and the sets of surveillance specimens for a reactor pressure vessel, he also informed.
The management of the company and the Branches made arrangements to provide anti-epidemic measures in workshops.
He said the requirements to wear face masks have been put forward at the plants, temperature is being measured remotely, the flows of workers are separated, sanitizers are installed everywhere, sanitary treatment of the whole territory is performed every day.
“Arrangements were done for 1000 employees to work remotely.” General Director Igor Kotov said, “It is worth mentioning that the pandemic also gave an impulse to implementation of new technologies.”
“For example, the situation with quarantine restrictions significantly accelerated the implementation of our project for testing a remote equipment acceptance system with the use of a technology of augmented reality.”
Kotov said, “We have already successfully applied it for communication of our own production sites. We are planning now to propose this solution to our foreign partners.”