“The PWR-TOI project takes into account the experience of operating cooling towers of other nuclear power plants, thanks to which the heat removal capacity of the Kursk NPP-2 cooling tower has been increased by about 22%. In order to increase power, they increased the height. The design of 179 meters will provide the stable operation of the power unit without reducing energy production, even in the hottest summer period. The evaporative cooling tower of the replacement station is capable of cooling up to 160,000 cubic meters of water per hour,” said Andrey Osharin, first deputy director for construction of new units of the Kursk NPP.

The process of building the highest cooling tower in Russia took 2 years and 10 months. A special hydrophobic concrete was used for concreting the exhaust tower – it repels water and meets the required waterproofing standards. In total, about 14,000 cubic meters of concrete mix were used – this amount would be enough for the construction of three 16-storey two-entrance residential buildings. The work was performed with the help of a unique crane capable of gradually increasing its height – up to a maximum of 200 meters.

“During the construction of the cooling tower, the specialists of SMU No. 1 LLC applied a number of innovative solutions that made it possible to speed up the concreting process without losing quality. Thus, on the first three tiers concreting was performed using 4 pours, and on all the next only using one. The builders of Kursk NPP-2 have already successfully shared their experience with Indian partners who are building cooling towers at the Rooppur NPP. Now that the concreting process has been completed, the challenge is to install the precast concrete inside the cooling tower under the water traps, as well as the lift lines and supply lines. Completion of these works will mean that the cooling tower is ready for operation,” said Oleg Shperle, vice president, project director for the construction of the Kursk NPP of JSC ASE.

The Kursk NPP-2 project provides for the construction of two evaporative cooling towers, one for each power unit. The exhaust towers operate as part of the NPP cooling system. Water circulates in a closed circuit, cooling systems and elements in nuclear power plant buildings, including the steam exhausted in the turbine. Exhaust towers perform the same function as reservoirs – they dissipate into the atmosphere excess heat released during cooling of water. The design service life of the building structures of the cooling tower is up to 100 years.

You can see a video archive of the construction process of the highest cooling tower here:

https://disk.yandex.ru/d/Hth7F15nSnP8jQ