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Russian contractor has weld connected two halves Reactor Pressure Vessel, or RPV, for 1200 megawatt, or MW, unit-1 of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant at Ishwardi of Pabna in northern Bangladesh.
It is a key stage in the manufacturing process of the RPV, said a Rosatom statement Tuesday.
AEM Technology in Volgodonsk in Russia completed the process that lasted for 10 days with continuous heating of the weld zone at 150 to 300 degree celsius and required about two tonnes of flux and more than one and a half tonnes of wire of four mm diameter.
AEM Technology is a part of Atomenergomash, the engineering division of Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom.
Following completion of welding, the reactor pressure vessel weighing 320 tonnes was heated at 300 degrees celsius for two days in furnace.
In the next stage, specialists are out a whole range of tests in the weld zones including radiographic, ultrasound and penetration tests.
In parallel with the manufacture of reactor pressure vessel, the plant is manufacturing its internals, reactor cover and the upper unit as well.
As of May 19, the vessel of the Reactor Core Barrel has been manufactured; baffle and a protective tube unit are at final stage of manufacturing.
The reactor is a vertical cylindrical vessel with an elliptical bottom.
The core and the internals are located inside the vessel.
From above, the reactor is hermetically sealed by a cover with the drives of mechanisms and elements for regulating and protecting the reactor, and nozzles for passage of cables of the in-core monitoring sensors installed on it.
Atomenergomash is a single source supplier of all equipment of the reactor compartment of the Rooppur NPP and a significant part of the equipment for the turbine island.
Different division of the company manufacture reactors, steam generators, pumping and heat-exchange equipment.
The expected commissioning schedule of the unit -1 of the Rooppur NPP has already been deferred by one year to 2023 from 2022.
Works for the preparatory phase of the Rooppur NPP is nearing completion and the main construction is expected to begin in the second half of the current year, Rosatom said in a previous statement.
The design of the innovative Generation 3+ power unit, which will be installed in Rooppur NPP, includes the most powerful type of VVER-1200 reactor, as well as a high-speed turbine specially designed for new-generation NPPs, the Rosatom statement said.
It provides the highest level of operational safety and fully meets all post-Fukushima requirements strictly set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, it added.
The first nuclear plant in Bangladesh is being built under a supplier's credit deal with Russia.
Rooppur NPP is designed and constructed according to the Russian design.
The plant will consist of two power units each with a capacity of 1200 MW, and equipped with generation 3+VVER-1200 reactor.
The Rooppur project will cost Tk 1.13 trillion ($12.65 billion), with Russian financing worth $11.38 billion being provided to Bangladesh for the project.
The Russian Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs and Bangladesh's state-owned Sonali Bank Ltd. will work as authorised banks for the state loan.
The Bangladesh government will provide Tk 220.52 billion of its own funding for the project.