Pressuriser for Kudankulam power plant’s Reactor 5 shipped from Russia 

AEM-Technologies Izhora, a part of the machine-building division of Rosatom – Atomenergomash, has shipped a pressuriser for Reactor 5 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project

AEM-Technologies Izhora, a part of the machine-building division of Rosatom – Atomenergomash, has shipped a pressuriser for Reactor 5 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.

After it passed the mandatory tests, the pressuriser was shipped on April 3. It would reach its destination after covering a distance of 17,000 km via sea.

The pressuriser, weighing about 187.50 tonnes, is a primary circuit equipment of the VVER 1,000 MWe reactor, and is responsible for creating and maintaining pressure and coolant volume in the reactor. It is used to limit pressure fluctuations in transient and emergency modes during the operation of a nuclear plant. When assembled, it would be about 14 meters long and 3.30 meters in diameter.

The capacity of the pressuriser is 79 cubic meters, with a wall thickness of 152 millimeters. Hence, this over-sized component is likely to reach the site from VOC Port, Thoothukudi, via sea on a barge.

During a hydraulic test, the equipment passed the tightness test at high temperatures and maximum admissible pressure of 24.7 MPa.

While the KKNPP is operating 2x1,000 MWe VVER reactors, built at the cost of ₹17,270 crore, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the project proponent, is constructing four more reactors with a similar capacity at Kudankulam with Russian technical know-how, at a cost of ₹89,470 crore.