Check assembly of Reactor vessel done for N-power unit 5 at Kudankulam

Chennai, Feb 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) Russia's integrated nuclear power major Rosatom on Wednesday said its machine building division has performed an assembly of the reactor vessel with the internals.

The item is being manufactured for power unit 5 being set up at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, Rosatom said a check assembly was carried out in an underground caisson.

First, using a crane with a lifting capacity of 600 tons, the specialists installed the 11-meter VVER-1000 Reactor Vessel on its design position.

Then, one after another, they lowered the 10-meter long Core Barrel weighing 73 tonnes, the Core Baffle weighing 38 tonnes, and the Protective Tube Unit weighing 68 tons.

The Reactor was then closed with the standard Reactor Cover. The total assembled weight of the item reached 603 tonnes.

During the assembly, the staff installed keys and fasteners on the Reactor Vessel and fixed the centering device of the Reactor cover.

According to Rosatom, during check assembly, the items exactly repeat their design position. In this case it significantly reduces the deadline and simplifies the mounting of the Reactor facility at the nuclear power project construction site.

Reactor is a vertical cylindrical vessel with an elliptical bottom, there is a core and Internals inside the item. From above, the equipment is sealed with a cover with drives of mechanisms and control and protection units installed on it, nozzles for outputting cables of in-reactor control sensors, Rosatom added.

India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has two 1,000 MW plants (Units 1 and 2) at Kudankulam, while four more (Units 3, 4, 5 and 6) are under construction.

All the six units are built with Russian technology and equipment supplied by Rosatom.

Source: IANS