Second reactor vessel for Belarusian nuclear power plant in 2017

The reactor vessel for the second power-generating unit will be delivered to the Belarusian nuclear power plant in 2017, BelTA learned from Vitaly Shishov, Director of Operations of the Volgodonsk-based branch Atommash of the Russian company AEM Technologies, on 26 August.

The executive said: “In line with the contract we will ship the reactor pressure vessel for the second power-generating unit in 2017. Work on the product is already in progress. All the components that make up the reactor unit have passed the key checks. The materials used to make the product have passed reception tests. A research has been carried out to confirm the highest quality of the materials. Shell rings of the connection pipe zone have passed the mechanical processing stage and the overlay welding phase.”

According to the Atommash Director of Operations, in late 2015 the company will be close to final stages in manufacturing the semi-vessels for the second power-generating unit. Thus, in early 2016 Atommash will be able to get down to the final operations to make the reactor pressure vessel. “We will be able to start the controlled assembly of the reactor unit in August 2016,” noted Vitaly Shishov.

The reactor pressure vessel for the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant will be sent on its way in October 2015. The delivery to the construction site near Ostrovets will take several weeks.

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.

AEM Technologies was established in 2007. It is part of Atomenergomash, the mechanical engineering division of the Russian nuclear industry corporation Rosatom. AEM Technologies has an engineering division in Saint Petersburg and two manufacturing divisions: Petrozavodskmash in Petrozavodsk and Atommash in Volgodonsk.