03.10.2019
The Kursk NPP Information and Public Relations Department
Heat insulation for a part of the 1st power block’s reactor vessel has been installed at the Kursk NPP-2 construction site
On October 2, 2019, the installation of the 1st power block’s reactor vessel barrel heat insulation was completed at the Kursk NPP-2 replacement construction site. The new power plant is built following a VVER-TOI* project.
The heat insulation is designed to minimize heat loss in the reactor vessel and to protect the equipment and the concrete vault walls from high temperatures coming from the reactor in both normal and emergency modes.
‘The safety of the nuclear facilities is the top priority for Rosatom. The VVER-TOI project implemented at the Kursk facility comprises all experience of operating previous-generation power blocks’, Rostislav Kimlik, the deputy chief engineer of the capital construction administration and the construction control department head at the Kursk NPP-2, explained. ‘It is established based on the cutting-edge technology solutions that foster the NPP safety and reliability. This was confirmed by the European Operating Organizations (EUR), among others’.
The outside diameter of the heat insulation is 5,520 meters, the internal one is 5,280 meters, the total weight is 8.55 tons. The insulation is made of separate blocks that look like baskets welded of steel sheets. The blocks are welded to each other, and the joints are covered.
The heat insulation refers to the II seismic category equipment.
*The 3+ generation 1st and 2nd power blocks of the Kursk NPP-2 are pilot projects constructed based on the VVER-TOI project (pressurized water type reactor standard optimized). This is a new designed elaborated by Russian specialists (ASE Group, the engineering division of the Rosatom State Corporation) on top of the technical solutions of the VVER-1200 NPP project. Compared to the previous-generation power blocks (VVER-1000), the capacity of each has been increased by 25%, up to 1,255 megawatt. The life span of the major equipment has doubled. The new Kursk NPP-2 power blocks comply with the most recent safety regulations set by the IAEA.
The developer and the technical customer of the facility is the Rosenergoatom Joint-Stock Company. The general designer and the general contractor is ASE.
As of now, the 1st, the 2nd and the 4th power block of the Kursk NPP run at the capacity set in the dispatch schedule. The 3rd power block is undergoing scheduled maintenance.
The radiation background at the Kursk NPP and within its location area is within the limit of normal power block operation and does not exceed the natural background level.
All up-to-date information about the radiation environment next to the Russian NPPs and other nuclear power facilities is available at www.russianatom.ru
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