“The schedule remains tough; we don’t change the task the plant construction directorate is facing. The reactor must be started up in 2015,” he said. We should add that BN-800 at Beloyarsk NPP nears start-up this year along with the third reactor of Rostov NPP and the first reactor of Novovoronezh NPP Phase II.
Leningrad NPP Phase II employs an array of new construction and installation solutions, which help to optimize the timeframe and resource consumption and will be in demand at other ROSATOM’s construction sites for sure, the CEO of ROSATOM is confident. For instance, this site uses large capacity cranes lifting more than 1,000 tons of load. This approach, in particular, for the first time was used to bring the reactor pressure vessel in the reactor hall vertically instead of horizontal movement through the transportation airlock. Besides, foundations of equipment have been strengthened before its installation. This also contributes to the facility construction time shortening.
Now the construction site engages approximately 4,200 people. Ultimately, the team will grow up to 6,000 people. Nearly all equipment for the first power unit has been delivered. Quite recently, two more steam generators arrived from ROSATOM’s machine engineering works ZiO-Podolsk located near Moscow. They were delivered by a new water way route.
The purging operation with the unsealed reactor is planned for December. The head of ROSATOM expressed his assurance that it is realistic to keep up with the planned start up dates.
Leningrad NPP Phase II will replace the existing nuclear power plant (four RBMK reactors). Therefore, timely power release from new reactors is not less important. It is required to develop the grid system and the nuclear specialists work closely with grid companies.
The ROSATOM CEO especially focused on NPP designing. According to Kirienko, the corporation expects the design and engineering complex of the sector to raise quality of the work and economic efficiency of projects. “We pay decent salaries to employees of our design institutes and this allows making requirements more stringent not only to quality and professionalism but also to economic efficiency. Already it is not sufficient just to complete a design that meets all technical requirements on time. Optimization options should be sought for at the design stage,” Kirienko emphasized. He also believes that the competition between the sectoral project companies is useful because it helps to reveal the strongest players.
No fear of sanctions
The journalists who were on the site during Kirienko’s visit took the opportunity to ask about the situation in the nuclear industry in the international arena. The ROSATOM CEO said the sanctions against Russia haven’t affected ROSATOM’s overseas contracts so far.
“Today, neither of the foreign partners has backtracked on signed commitments. If someone is to hesitate under political pressure, we will find new partners,” Kirienko said. With that, the head of ROSATOM noted that the corporation was actively entering new foreign markets and expects signing new contracts in the second half of this year. As to Ukraine, the work with the country “goes without fails,” according to Kirienko. “Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are still supplied with the Russian nuclear fuel; we haven’t failed a single delivery, while the Ukrainian partners their payments,” he assured.
