The RF government made a decision to fully finance the construction of two nuclear icebreakers of new generation. The tender for LK-60 had been announced as early as in January 2013. However the Ministry of Finance of Russia had suggested the state should pay no more than 30% of the two ships cost. Paying the rest had been offered to companies that would use the NSR for cargo transportation. Though, at last, the government acknowledged the construction of the vessels a country’s strategic task. In 2014-2020 the state will invest RUB 86,1 billion for the construction of two LK-60 ships. The icebreakers will be handed in to Atomflot in 2019 and 2020.
Experimental design office Gidropress took part in ASME ICONE21 – a major international technical conference for nuclear engineering, held in Chengdu (PRC). More than 1100 reports were presented, with a wide variety of topics touched upon. The representative of Gidropress taking part in the forum was Grirory Ponomarenko, Principal Design Engineer. He spoke about the new method of coolant mixing analysis in VVER-1000 working units, developed by the office’s specialists.
Energomashspetsstal (EMSS), a Ukrainian Enterprise, part of Rosatom’s machine-building division, won the tender for production of 16 backup rolls of hot and cold rolling upon the order of ArcelorMittal, a world leader in metallurgy. The equipment is meant for 10 metallurgical plants of Europe. The total weight of the batch will be 634 tons, while the mass of each roll – from 25,8 to 57,8 tons, all produced of modern alloy-treated steel with chrome 5%.
Rusatom Overseas (a subsidiary of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, responsible for promotion of Russian nuclear technology at global market) and the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) signed an agreement for cooperation in educational sphere. The two countries are planning cooperation in scientific research work, exchanging specialists, joint seminars and text book preparation. The parties also agreed to establish a working group which would develop a list of specific projects, one of which being the first national competition of students thesis works on “Peaceful Applications of Nuclear Technology”.
The representatives of the Finnish company Fortum visited JSC PIMCU (an enterprise of ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.) to perform a supervisory audit. They met the combine’s managers and workers, examined its key interprises and evaluated procedures connected with ecological safety provision and labor safety. Based on the findings of the audit, Fortum’s experts noted that considerable improvements had been achieved over the 5-year period since the previous audit and that PIMCU strived to comprehensively develop its quality, environmental, health, and safety management systems, as well as to obtain ISO 9001 and 14001 certificates. Fortum’s representatives recommended a number of complementary programmes to be developed in order to enhance occupational safety.
