Construction works of the country’s maiden Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is going on in full swing. Besides, as part of manufacturing process, assembling of the upper semi-vessel of the reactor for Unit -1 of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been completed recently at the Volgodonsk Branch of JSC AEM technology Atommash in Russia.
The Government expected that the first unit will be commissioned in 2023, and the second in 2024. The construction project is being implemented by a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom. It is high on the Bangladesh government’s agenda, all the way up to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The company under Atomenergomash, the machine-building division of Rosatom is engaged in manufacturing of reactors with internal equipment, sets of steam generators and considerable part of turbine island equipment for two units of Rooppur project,” ROSATOM official said. The official said structure consists of three components - two shells and a flange. The shells were assembled with the help of a special equipment having a lifting capacity of 180 tons. Then the upper reactor semi-vessel was installed on a welding unit for anticorrosive overlaying of the area separating the rings and necessary welding. A total of 300 kg of wire and 400 kg of flux were used for the overlaying only.
The reactor is a vertical cylindrical vessel with an elliptical bottom housing the core and other internal equipment. On its top it is closed with a tightly sealed lid. The lid has installed mechanism and devices for regulating and protection of the reactor as well as exit pipes for cables from detectors for internal control. In the upper part of the vessel there are inlet and exit pipes for coolant supply and removal as well as inlet pipes for emergency supply of coolant at the event of depressurization due to any leak in the circuit.
The nuclear power plant is being built in Rooppur of Pabna, about 160 kilometres northwest of the capital. Bangladesh-Russia Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) has expressed satisfaction over the progress on the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. According to a Rosatom official, the reinforced frame, weighing 58 tons, and the embedded part of the core catcher (core meltdown retention device), weighing 7.5 tons, have been installed at Unit 2. “Core Catcher” is one of the most important passive safety systems.
In 2015-2016, preparatory work was carried out at the construction site, working documentation was developed and documents for licensing for construction were prepared. On November 4, 2017, the regulatory authority of Bangladesh (BAERA) issued required license for the design and construction of the plant.
“The design of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been developed in such a way that it will not succumb to any accident – natural or man-made. One of the main concerns of any nuclear power plant is its waste management. The Russian Federation will take back spent nuclear fuel of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and we have signed a deal in this regard with them,”an official said.
On 2 October 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the first stone in the foundation of Rooppur NPP. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved “Construction of Rooppur NPP” Project on 6 December 2016 at an estimated cost of Taka 1,13,092.91 crore. The Rooppur NPP is designed and being constructed by ROSATOM. The plant will host two units with generation 3 plus VVER-1200 reactors, and will have a life cycle of 60 years with a provision of extending by another 20 years. Each unit will have an electricity generation capacity of 1200 MW.