Belarusian nuclear power plant used to demonstrate Multi-D technology

Capabilities of the Multi-D technology used to build the Belarusian nuclear power plant were demonstrated when representatives of Belarusian and Russian mass media visited the Russian company NIAEP, the managing company of ASE Group (NIAEP – ASE – Atomenergoproekt), NIAEP representatives told BelTA.

NIAEP specialists referred to the Belarusian nuclear power plant construction project as a fine example of how the Multi-D technology can be used to design and build nuclear energy industry installations.

Ivan Uvarov, First Deputy Director for Systems Engineering and Information Technologies, said that the Russian and Belarusian reporters had been able to see the virtual construction project in the course of its implementation. According to the source, the Multi-D technology reflects all the processes involved in a civil engineering project ranging from 3D modelling, the schedules for purchasing and delivering the equipment to the order of operations and the number of construction workers employed at the site at a given time.

Multi-D is actively propagated to all the facilities of ASE Group. Yuri Ivanov, Senior Vice President for Design, told media that the technology’s effectiveness had been proven in practice. The third power-generating unit of the Rostov nuclear power plant is a fine example. The unit was commissioned two months ahead of the schedule. As far as the Belarusian nuclear power plant is concerned, the construction process stays on schedule.

According to the Belarusian expert Yuri Dashkevich, the assimilation of innovative technologies during the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant allows Belarusian companies to acquire the experience they need for future development. “Thanks to Multi-D our companies learn how to apply modern technologies of smart design and information management. It gives them a considerable competitive edge and opens opportunities for reaching the large market of building and operating complicated engineering installations,” said the expert.

The Multi-D technology is a set of interconnected solutions used to create a system to manage the lifecycle of nuclear power plants starting with the design of a future nuclear power plant and ending with its decommissioning. The technology implements 3D modelling features to visualize construction and installation operations even before the construction phase begins. The Multi-D technology can reduce construction time and costs while improving labor productivity, quality and safety of operations.

ASE Group has been created as part of the efforts to form an engineering division of the Russian state nuclear industry corporation Rosatom. ASE Group has been created by merging the industry’s top three companies: NIAEP, ASE and Atomenergoproekt. ASE Group is one of the leaders of the world nuclear engineering industry and accounts for over 30% of the global market of nuclear power plant construction.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The Belarusian nuclear power plant will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). 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.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built using the Russian three-plus generation design AES-2006. The design meets strict norms and recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and boasts improved safety parameters. Belarus and Russia have signed all the necessary intergovernmental agreements for the sake of implementing the project.