Russian Atomenergomash ships reactor lid for second unit of Belarusian nuclear power plant

The Volgodonsk-based branch Atommash of the Russian company AEM Technologies (part of Atomenergomash, which is the mechanical engineering division of the Russian state corporation Rosatom), has sent on its way the upper unit of a VVER-1200 reactor for the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, the Atomenergomash press service told BelTA.

The upper unit includes a lid with ducts, an air vent pipe and metal structures with a traversing bar. The shipped products weigh 130 tonnes. The equipment is designed to seal the main reactor joint, provide space for placing control systems and safeguards, and build an enclosed volume for the sake of generating pressure in the reactor.

Just like the reactor pressure vessel the upper unit is rated one on the seismicity scale. The equipment is designed to work for 60 years.

The reactor pressure vessel lid is one of the main components of the upper unit. It takes 998 operations to make one. The lid has passed all kinds of inspections — 610 in total — at Atommash premises, including hydraulic tests. The product’s quality management sheet includes 92 control points.

The equipment will be shipped by road from Atommash to the Belarusian nuclear power plant under construction near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The shipment process will take about seven days.

The reactor is a vertical cylinder with an elliptical bottom. The reactor core and the in-vessel components are located inside. The reactor is covered by a hermetically sealing lid.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the Russian standard Generation III+ design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.