Steam generators installed in design position of Kudankulam reactor 4

Installation of 307-tonne steam generators at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project reactor 4 using innovative Open Top method.

The steam generators meant for reactor 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), each weighing about 307 tonnes, was assembled and installed in the design position on last Wednesday.

 All four steam generators meant for nuclear reactor 4 of KKNPP were assembled with Open Top method, which makes it possible to install oversize equipment prior to closing the dome of the reactor building with the help of external high capacity crane. This method has already been successfully implemented at reactor 3 and has proven its effectiveness in reducing the construction time and accelerating the start of welding of the reactor coolant pipeline.

 “The installation of steam generators at Unit 4 by our Indian partners was carried out under normal conditions quickly and efficiently. The Open Top installation technology, proposed by the Russian engineers for the installation of steam generators of nuclear reactor 3, has again confirmed its effectiveness during this installation, especially when performing all the installation procedures with such high quality as demonstrated by the contractors during KKNPP construction,” said Anton Chistyakov, Deputy Director for Projects in India, Head of Construction Division of ASE JSC at KKNPP site.

The key equipment of Unit 4 was manufactured at Atommash Plant – the manufacturing site of AEM-technology company, which is part of Atomenergomash, Machine Building Division of Rosatom State Corporation.

 The Russian and KKNPP engineers employed the Open Top method for installing the 317-tonne reactor pressure vessel, the heart of the nuclear reactor, of reactor 4 in January last in record-breaking time. Buoyed by the results, this method is being employed for installing heavier equipment of the nuclear reactors.

The steam generator is a component of the reactor plant primary circuit and is designed for production of dry saturated steam from the heat transferred to the reactor core by the primary circuit coolant. Dry saturated steam produced by the steam generator is used in the turbine plant where the thermal energy of the steam is converted into electric energy. The weight of each steam generator is 307 tonnes.

 “The technical solutions implemented in KKNPP characterize ways of further evolutionary development of VVER high power reactor and transition to creation of a new, reliable, safe and economically efficient power unit. The new power units of KKNPP comply with the most up-to-date requirements of IAEA in the field of safety,” said a senior of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the project proponent.