The construction milestone has been completed almost one month ahead of schedule.
The core catcher has become not only the first large-size equipment installed at the LNPP-2 Power Unit 3, but also one of the principal passive safety injection systems at the future plant.
The installation of the core catcher vessel weighing over 159 tons was successfully completed on 09, October. The equipment was set into design position in the third power unit's reactor cavity. The entire operation took 8 hours.
The operation was performed by 50 specialists using a heavy lift crawler crane with a 2,000-ton loading capacity and two tower cranes with a 50-ton loading capacity each.
The works required utmost precision, and the allowed deviation during positioning equaled just a few millimeters. To execute such a complex task the specialists with the experience of similar work at the first LNPP-2 power units and projects abroad, such as in Turkey, were involved.
Konstantin Khudyakov, LNPP Construction Program Director at JSC CONCERN TITAN-2, remarked:
“We have thoroughly hammered out all the operation details with land surveyors, installation fitters, crane operators, electric welders, and concrete workers. Overall eight teams out of almost 90 people had been created and worked alternate shifts. Both job superintendents and the personnel involved in the production, installation and dismantling of temporary construction structures underwent additional training. The entire package of works on the core catcher has been excellently performed”.
At the next stage the TITAN-2 Holding’s construction workers will have to install other system elements, that is filler blocks, maintenance platform, cantilever truss and lower plate with a total weight of nearly 600 tons.
For information:
The TITAN-2 Holding is a Russian group of companies that builds nuclear facilities. Organisations of the Holding perform the whole cycle of works, from development of basic design documentation to facility commissioning.
The TITAN-2 Holding is the general contractor for construction of the new power units of the Leningrad NPP. At the construction site, the organisations of the Holding perform all civil construction, installation, and electric installation works.
The Holding participates in the construction of Akkuyu NPP in Turkey, Paks II NPP in Hungary and El-Dabaa NPP in Egypt.