Over five months of 2014 Rosenergoatom has already produced by 4.5 bln kWh more electricity than the target of the Federal Tariff Service (FTS). According to Romanov, by the end of the year the utility hopes to achieve a record volume of electricity, i.e. 178 bln kWh that is by 10 bln kWh more than the target. The head of the utility said: “The gap with the FTS plan will give us a possibility of getting additionally RUB 11 billion.”
Yevgeny Romanov cited several facts, which allow the utility to hope for an increment of this indicator: “We have set an ambitious goal of spending not more than 180 days for repair of RBMK units. And we were close to this at a Kursk nuclear power unit.” The target for the second power unit of Leningrad NPP is to fit in the set timeframe. “We hope that it will be even shorter,” Yevgeny Romanov admits. Besides, it has turned out that Unit 1 of Kursk NPP has not exhausted its service life. The maximum deflection of the graphite stack there is 52 mm while the permissible value is 88 mm. “We agreed with Rostechnadzor that the unit can be restarted after the repair without restoring the lifetime performance of the graphite stack,” he explained. Romanov also said that the utility’s total proceeds in 2014 are planned at RUB 220-230 billion.
It should be also added that this year will be a record year for Rosenergoatom in terms of a number of new reactors. The utility expects to carry out the first criticality program Beloyarsk NPP’s BN-800 reactor, first criticality and first power programs at Novovoronezh II’s Unit 1 with VVER-1200 reactor, and the first criticality and first power programs at Rostov NPP Unit 3 with VVER-1000.
Let’s see what has happened recently at the construction sites of Russian NPPs. At Leningrad II the reactor pressure vessel was put in the design position at Unit 1. The completion of installation is a sort of a landmark of construction of the power unit with a new reactor. The feature of the operation is that it was carried out using the so-called “open-way approach.” This was done for the first time in modern Russia. The use of this technological solution allowed significantly reducing time and risks through reduction of a number of operations. Besides, the containment dome of the first reactor building was lifted and installed. The installation was preceded by on-site assembling of its constituents and this ensured high quality of the work. On the ground not only metal structures were assembled, but also process systems were put together, in particular, the essential systems, such as the spray system, cable structure along with ventilation systems and the polar crane servicing pad. The heavy and large structure weighted 173 tons.
At Novovoronezh II the packaged switchgear 220 kV has been connected to the United Power Grid. To arrange for the power supply, the Federal Grid Company of UPG built a high-voltage overhead electricity transmission line 220 kV and connected it to the mains running from Novovoronezh NPP to substation “Liski.” At the next stage voltage will be supplied from the packaged switchyard 220 kV to back-up in-house transformers, which reduce voltage from 220 kV to 10 kV.
The loading of fuel assembly dummies into the reactor started June 10 at the third power unit of Rostov nuclear power plant. A total of 163 dummy assemblies (which do not contain nuclear fuel) are to be loaded. This operation will be followed by the final assembly of the reactor vessel needed to start an important process phase, i.e. pressure tests and circuit purging. At the first stage of the tests and purging the quality of assembling is inspected. The parameters are close to that of operating ones. Water temperature in the circuit is raised up to 80oС and pressure is increased up to 250 kg per cm². In August the reactor is to undergo the hot trials, and the specialists will measure various parameters of the equipment work: heat release, heat loss, coolant flow, which prove the reactor safety and conformance to the design. Rostov-3 startup id set for 2014.
