The local branch of AEM Technologies (a subsidiary of Atomenergomash, Rosatom’s engineering division) in Volgodonsk has finished the installation of heat exchange tubing into the first steam generator for Belarusian NPP Unit 2. The tubing installation is an important and most complex manufacturing process that took 11,000 stainless steel pipes with a total length of about 125 km. Coiled tubes of different shapes and sizes were assembled inside the steam generator body. Afterwards, the tubes were flared at ends and welded in the collectors.

The assembly area provides room for the tubing installation on two steam generators at a time. Currently, the heat exchange tubing is installed into the second steam generator. In other words, two generators are manufactured simultaneously.

At the next stage, the bottom plate is welded to the generator. The assembled unit will go through a series of hydraulic tests and controlling procedures, including an eddy current test on the heat exchange tubing.

The steam generator is a Safety Class 1 product. More than 4 meters in diameter and about 15 meters in length, it weighs 340 tons. The steam generator is an elliptical-bottom cylindrical vessel placed horizontally with inlet and outlet collectors in its middle part. The upper part of the vessel contains a steam compartment, while its lower part houses 11,000 stainless steel pipes forming a heat exchange surface. The pipes are 16 mm in diameter and 10–14 meters long. Pipe ends are welded inside two collectors. One reactor unit comprises four steam generators.

The Belarusian NPP is the first nuclear station to be built in Belarus. It will have a capacity of 2,300 MW generated by two VVER-1200 reactors. The project started in 2011 and is scheduled for commissioning in 2018 (Unit 1) and 2020 (Unit 2).