The Petrozavodsk branch of Russia’s AEM has produced eight back-turn valves for unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear plant in Bangladesh, Atomenergomash announced.

Rosatom is building two 1200MWe VVER-1200 units at Rooppur, which is on the eastern bank of the river Ganges.

In total, Petrozavodskmash will supply 184 pipe fittings for the halls of the two units of the Rooppur NPP — wedge gate valves and high and low pressure gate valves. These butterfly valves are designed to operate under conditions of elevated temperatures and pressures: up to 300 degrees Celsius and 11MPa, respectively.

In the production process, the valves passed through various inspections. There were visual checks and the welds are checked by capillary inspection. The assembled products also passed hydraulic and strength tests. The gates were held for 10 minutes under test pressure: with a diameter of 80mm - 18.4MPa, with a diameter of 100mm - 18.3 MPa

Earlier in May, Petrozavodskmash completed the deposition of pipe billets for the main circulation pipeline (MTC) for  Rooppur 2. A set of deposited pipes consists of 20 pipes for straight sections of the pipeline and 12 pipes for the manufacture of elbows. The main circulation pipeline with an internal diameter of 850mm and a total length of 146m connects the main equipment of the primary circuit of the nuclear plant - the reactor, steam generators and main circulation pumps.

At the end of May, Atommash, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM technologies, completed packing elements inside the housing of the first steam generator for the Rooppur plant. The process took 22 days.

Atommash also completed the core barrel, or shroud, of the reactor vessel for Rooppur 1. The equipment comprises six shells and an elliptical bottom. It is about 11m high and weighs 63 tonnes. Its upper section has 238 holes, each with a diameter of 196mm, and two more with a diameter of 300mm. These are arranged in six rows around the perimeter and are exit points for the reactor coolant. Its lower section has 1344 holes with diameters of between 40mm and 60mm, as well as 163 holes with a diameter of 226mm. These are for the installation of supports and to protect the fuel assemblies from mechanical particles entering them.

Atomenergomash is the supplier of all reactor equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant.

Photo: The core barrel was completed for the Rooppur nuclear plant in May (Credit: Rosatom)