Another core catcher delivered to Belarusian nuclear station construction site

The core catcher made by the Volgodonsk-based branch of OAO AEM Technologies for the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been delivered to the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, BelTA learned from Inna Vavulina, Press Secretary of OAO Atomenergomash.

The source specified that the core catcher was delivered using water transport and automobile transport. The water part of the way involved the rivers Dnieper, Volga, Sheksna, Svir, and Volkhov. The route was about 3,000km long. A new route was worked out for the transition from water transport to automobile transport near the city of Veliky Novgorod. The new route was then authorized by Russian Railways, the city administration, the federal road services and motorway police. As a result, the large and heavy parts of the core catcher have been successfully delivered to the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, said Inna Vavulina.

According to OAO AEM Technologies Director General Yevgeny Pakermanov, a lot of work has been done to deliver the equipment to the Belarusian nuclear power plant using the new route. In the future it will allow delivering equipment to the nuclear power plant via Russia and Belarus without transit via third countries.

The core catcher is a specialized system designed to protect nuclear power plants. The conical structure is meant to catch and keep liquid and solid radioactive materials if an accident destroys the reactor. The device will prevent dangerous radioactive elements from leaking out of the shell even in the direst of emergencies.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). The Russian merged company OAO NIAEP – ZAO ASE is the general designer and the general contractor of the project. In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.

Founded in 2007, OAO AEM Technologies is part of Atomenergomash, which is the mechanical engineering division of the Russian state corporation Rosatom. OAO AEM Technologies operates the head engineering office of AEM Technologies in Saint Petersburg, OAO Petrozavodskmash, and the branch in Volgodonsk (Atommash). Among other things the enterprise makes equipment for the nuclear industry, heat power engineering, gas, oil, and chemical industries.