21.12.2020  INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF LENINGRAD NPP

Leningrad NPP: Robots are toiling

A unique robot has been tested at the Leningrad NPP. Its task is diagnostics and repair of the wall lining and bottom of the cooling ponds of power units with VVER-1200 reactors.

The robotics device has been constructed specifically for servicing new types of nuclear power plants. Additional operations like draining water fr om the pool or unloading fuel in order to operate the NPP are no longer required, unlike the current way of NPP operation.

The distinguishing feature of the robot is its versatility: It looks for potential leaks, determines their coordinates, cleans up the defective surface and performs plating of the surface by welding. Its repair modules are equipped with swivel brackets. This allows for work in any hard-to-reach areas of the pool, for example, in the corners.

“A robot that can inspect and repair the lining of the fuel pool, if necessary, will quickly eliminate leaks in the fuel pool in order to maintain the design water level in it,” – Chief Engineer at LNPP-2 Aleksandr Belyaev noted.

The device was tested at a special stand, wh ere specialists simulated the entire chain of operations performed by it. The robot is ready for operation in the storage pools of power units No. 5 and No. 6 of the Leningrad NPP.

Reference:

The spent fuel pool is a reinforced concrete structure with a metal cladding filled with water with boric acid. For several years, until heat dissipates and radioactivity levels decrease, it stores cassettes with spent nuclear fuel after they are unloaded from the reactor. The integrity and tightness of the spent fuel pool is an important component of the nuclear and radiation safety of a nuclear power plant. Atomic scientists pay great attention to monitoring its condition.

Video digest: https://yadi.sk/i/dUm51gEg1-A2Jg


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