Initially flushing should have been carried out in March. However, the specialists managed to proceed with these works over the end of February. The water was flushed from the emergency core cooling system and pressurizer, volume control system pipelines, equipment and pipelines of the emergency and scheduled cooldown, emergency boron injection system, and passive heat removal system.
“Flushing is done to identify all possible problems, spoilage, and collisions”, Maxim Bogachko, director of the Novovoronezh branch of Atomenergoproekt, director’s office for Novovoronezh II construction, said. “It is an important milestone in nuclear power plant construction. It demonstrates that all systems are available for operation and we can proceed with commissioning works.”
There is no doubt that the first unit will be commissioned. The opposite is unacceptable. “There is no place for those who doubt the success,” Mr Bogachko notes.
His deputy Mikhail Pinchuk adds, “It is understood that it is the first unit of this type being built in Russia. Commissioning of the Kalinin and Rostov nuclear power units was much easier because their equipment was similar at 95 per cent. Here we have much new equipment, for example, the turbine island. We may face some difficulties of course, but we cannot doubt that the unit will be commissioned in due time.”
With such schedule you cannot succeed without a good team. Mr Bogachko believes, “If you have a team of responsible and dedicated experts with common goal, then it will work out well. You can succeed only with such team.”
“I like the attitude of people engaged on the site. That is why I am confident that all obligations will be duly fulfilled”, ROSATOM General Director Sergey Kirienko noted after his visit to the site. The next important operation is reactor cold and hot trial run. It is expected to start one month ahead of schedule.
The works are also in progress on Novovoronezh II-2 site. “Now we are preparing for polar crane erection on a regular place in the reactor compartment. The works are carried out to the utmost in pump room, diesel generation station and demineralization plant,” Mr Bogachko says. “Currently the valves are erected on the dome. The welders are working almost 24 hours a day. In September we will proceed with containment erection”. This year NIAEP expects to complete all civil works to proceed with erection of all utilities next year.
“This is the most interesting and challenging construction in whole my life. Almost eight thousand people are engaged in construction directly on the site. Some more are working in various auxiliary workshops. In total, there are ten thousand people what can be compared to population of a small town,” Mr Bogachko admits. He believes there is nothing more challenging and responsible that construction of a nuclear power plant. Managing so many people is not an easy job.
