A preparation for the final testing is going on at Kudankulam in India – an NPP constructed by Rosatom, says “RIA Novosti”. It is expected, that after completing the tests, they will look at the possibility of handing in a paper to the India’s regulatory authority, asking for permission to switch to minimum controlled reactor power. The equipment and system revision was conducted according to the results of hot tests cycle of the first power unit of the station. The power unit 2 construction is now at the termination stage. The works on preparation of the second phase construction (units 3 and 4) have already started. The scope of obligations of the Russian side for top-priority design works for the second phase is almost completed. Today the sides are getting ready to sign contract documents for the above mentioned units.
Matthieu Borsboom, Vice-Admiral of Royal Netherlands Navy visited the Information Centre of Atomic Energy in Murmansk, situated on board of the “Lenin” nuclear ship, as a part of his visit to Murmansk region. The delegation visited the nuclear power-guided missile cruiser “Peter the Great”, the atomic submarine “Oriol” and the first world’s nuclear icebreaker “Lenin” (now a museum). On board the “Lenin” the Vice-Admiral and Mustafa Kashka, Deputy General Director of Atomflot, discussed the issues of international cooperation and navigation safety.
IAEA chose the city of Vladivostok to be the training site for radiation control specialists. A regional training session on “Radiation detection methods” will take place at the Training Center of Customs Control of Fissile and Radioactive Materials (CCFRM) on March 11-15 . It will be attended by nuclear power specialists along with representatives of custom and law-enforcement authorities from Vietnam, Indonesia, Jordan, Cambodia, Thailand, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mianma, Singapore and Pakistan. IAEA will take an active part in the training session. The choice of the venue is explained by high scientific and technical potential of the training center and professionalism of its employees.
The Uranium One Inc. shareholders approved the plan of arrangement to acquire a 100% stake in the company by ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. (JSC Atomredmetzoloto, ARMZ, part of Rosatom). The holders of approximately 95.7% common shares, including ARMZ and option holders supported the transaction. Now the consolidation is to be approved by the Supreme Court of Ontario, Canada, as well as by the regulatory authorities of Russia, Kazakhstan, USA and Australia (countries, having shares of Uranium One). Under the terms of the agreement signed in January 2013, ARMZ is set to acquire all of the common shares of Uranium One Inc. for cash consideration of CDN$2.86 per share.
Rosatom is about to order the equipment for the world’s most powerful multipurpose fast research reactor (MBIR), planned to be constructed in Dimitrovgrad (Russia) by 2020. Vyacheslav Pershukov, the Director of the Innovations Management Block of Rosatom, will discuss the possibility of the equipment supply with the representatives of Czech Skoda JS and Skoda Power. “The Czech companies will be able to provide stability to the national nuclear industry in innovative technologies of tomorrow”, – says Pershukov. He also noted that the Russian nuclear industry was maintaining “good long-term partnership” with the Czech. Last year Rosatom ordered products for NPPs under construction from the local enterprises for more than CZK3 billion.
A delegation of the Tokyo Institute of Technology visited the Central Institute for Continuing Education and Training (CICET) in Obninsk. The Japanese specialists got familiar with the system of personnel training and continuing education in nuclear power field in Russia. The head of the delegation, Prof. Akatsuka said that the Japanese side is considering the possibility of specialized courses for their students and teachers. The CICET already has some experience of this kind of courses for recipients of Russian nuclear technologies; last year a specialized training activity concerning engineering aspect of nuclear fuel was held here for European postgraduates.
Rosatom participated in the 11th Russian-Jordan Industrial Exhibition “EXPO – RUSSIA JORDAN 2013”, which was open on March 11, 2012 in Amman (Jordan). On the first day the State Corporation exposition was visited by Hatem Al-Halawani, a Minister of Industry and Trade of Jordan; Nael Kabariti, Chairman of Jordan Chamber of Commerce; Alexander Kalugin, Russian Ambassador in Jordan. The cooperation between Russia and Jordan in preparing the construction of the first Jordan NPP was noted to develop quite successfully and at the highest level, while the NPP of the Russian design meets the highest requirements of safety.
The Ganz ЕЕМ company (in 2010 became a part of Atomenergomash) made a cooperation agreement with the Department of Machine and Industrial Product Design of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The agreement provides the opportunity of field practice for students at the Hungarian enterprise of Atomenergomash. The students practice calculating durability and arrangements for pumps, designed by Ganz ЕЕМ. “The agreement made between Ganz ЕЕМ and Budapest University of Technology and Economics is a good example of collaboration of holding companies with leading specialized higher education institutions, meant to attract and support young and talented technical specialists”, – said Ksenia Sukhotina, Human Resources Director of Atomenergomash.
The Saint-Petersburg Atomenergoproekt hosted a meeting on preparation of a medium power NPP project for commercial use. The design of an NPP with the water-water reactor (VVER-640) was developed by the company. Its engineering solutions are fully based on passive safety systems, which operate only by laws of physics rather than by machinery or operator. The specialists note that the 640-megawatt power unit is optimal solution for countries and regions with developing energy systems. Justification of the design solutions has already been confirmed by reviews conducted by the Russian regulatory authorities and results of foreign reviews conducted in Germany and the USA in the fields such as safety and economics. The meeting participants estimated that it would take not more than 1.5 years to update the design, license it and prepare the documentation.
Representatives of the nuclear industry organizations, which are project partners – Atomenergomash, OKB Gidropress, CDBME, Izhorskiye Zavody, NRC Kurchatov Institute, LI VNIPIET – confirmed their readiness to update the design for the commercial application. The VVER-640 NPP project documentation has been submitted to ROSATOM for decision-making regarding a possibility of implementing the project on Kola NPP Phase Two site and abroad. SPb AEP noted that if the decision is positive, the priority working documentation for the construction and installation work start can be available during one year.
