Specialists completed the first state task of 2021 at the site of Kursk NPP-2: all four hydraulic tanks of the emergency core cooling system have been installed in the design position in the reactor building of power unit No. 1.

“The installation of hydraulic tanks will allow us to proceed to the next stage of building up the structures in the containment area of the reactor. The timely completion of the reactor shaft in the building of the first power unit depends on the implementation of these works, which is the next state task for 2021,” - said Vyacheslav Fedyukin, director of the Kursk NPP.

“Fulfillment of the state assignment on time speaks for the well-coordinated work of the Customer and the General Contractor,” noted Oleg Shperle, Vice President, Director of the Kursk NPP-2 construction project. “Only by remaining united as a team will we be able to ensure the fulfillment of this demanding state task: the timely start-up of the power units”.

The emergency core cooling system consists of passive and active parts. Hydraulic tanks are passive NPP safety systems that operate without the involvement of personnel and the use of external power supplies. During the operation of a nuclear power plant, these containers store an aqueous solution of boric acid (neutron absorber). The tanks are designed for emergency flooding of the reactor core in case of emergency situations associated with the loss of coolant. This prevents damage to the fuel rods and fuel melting.

Each hydraulic reservoir of the emergency core cooling system is a vertical pressure vessel. The volume of the container is 60 cubic meters. This volume would be enough to fill an average of 20 tanks of fire engines.