19.05.2017  The Rostov NPP Information and Public Relations Administration

Fuel assembly imitators (FAI) loading into the reactor has begun at starting power unit No 4 of Rostov NPP

At Rostov NPP’s power unit No 4 under construction, the specialists of the NPP’s Central Maintenance Department (CMD), Atomtekhenergo JSC, and Sezam JSC have started loading the fuel assembly imitators (FAI) into the reactor.

FA imitators are an exact replica of fuel assemblies, completely repeating their design, but not containing nuclear fuel. Therefore, during the commissioning the imitators are used instead of regular FAs.

This stage is of paramount importance – it is not only the final rehearsal of the nuclear fuel loading into the reactor, but also an examination of the reactor unit for compliance with design characteristics and safety requirements.

According to the Lead Engineer of Atomtekhenergo JSC Valeriy Plaksin – a representative of the organization performing the commissioning works at the power unit under construction – all 163 FAIs will be loaded within the next few days.


“The FAI loading work will be conducted the day and night; the loading machine spends on average 25 minutes to automatically install each FAI into the reactor. The loading of all 163 FAIs will be completed in the next two-three days. And then we will begin preparing the reactor for circulation flushing and cold and hot trials”, Valeriy Plaksin said.

The FAIs installation is under complete control of the operations department engineers of Rostov NPP, as noted by Vladimir Sysoev, the Main Specialist of the CMD of Rostov NPP. The operator of the loading machine, the nuclear safety and reliability department’s supervising physicist, as well as the shift supervisor of the Phase II reactor shop are involved in this work.

“Together with our contractors we both control and perform the commissioning at the reactor unit. After all FAIs are loaded, the workers of the CMD will begin installing the protective tube unit and the upper unit. As soon as the reactor is assembled, we will begin its tests, including running with parameters close to real performance”, Vladimir Sysoev told about the nearest plans.

FAIs are designed to simulate the geometry of the reactor core, to confirm the hydraulic characteristics of the reactor unit during the circulation flushing and cold and hot trials, which will allow specialists to take various characteristics of the equipment operation – such as heat release, heat loss, coolant rate, etc. – proving the reactor’s safety and compliance with the project requirements. At this stage the parameters similar to real operation in the reactor unit are achieved, and the quality of the reactor installation is checked.

The power block No. 4 is planned to be launched in 2017.

The Rostov NPP is an affiliate company for Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC. The plant is based at the Tsymlianskoe reservoir shore 13.5 km away from Volgodonsk. The NPP operates VVER-1000 reactors with the installed capacity of 1000 megawatts. The power block No.1 commenced commercial operations in 2001, with the second and the third power blocks to follow in 2010 and on September 17, 2015, respectively. The power block No. 4 is currently under construction.


The Rostov NPP Information and Public Relations Administration.


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