A Low-pressure Rotors has been installed in the turbine room of the first power unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the country’s biggest ever power plant located at Ishwardi in Pabna district, Russia's state-owned nuclear entity that is implementing the RNPP.
The Low-pressure Rotors has been installed only two days ahead of the inauguration of the RNPP on October 5.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to jointly take part in the inaugural programme virtually.
Officials of the ROSATOM in its official page in facebook on Tuesday evening also shared some photos of the installation of the low-pressure Rotors in the turbine room.
The officials said in total, the steam turbine has four low-pressure and one high-pressure rotors, a generator and exciter rotor.
Describing the Low-pressure Rotors and the way of installation, they said installation takes place in several stages. A sling and traverse are hung on the large load hook of an overhead crane with a lifting capacity of 180 tons to lift the Rotor. Then the rotor is slung, lifted and moved to the installation area, where it is placed in bearings and the clearances are measured. After laying all the rotors, alignment is carried out and the shaft line is aligned to the position specified in the factory documents.
Elaborating the need of the Low-pressure Rotors in the turbine room, they mentioned it is in the turbine that the thermal energy of steam is converted into mechanical energy of rotation of the generator rotor. This energy is then converted into electrical energy in a generator.
It should be mentioned that the first batch of fresh uranium, the nuclear fuel of the first unit of the RNPP arrived in Bangladesh earlier on Sep 28, and the country entered the global nuclear club as the first consignment of nuclear fuel arrived at the plant site.
At the arrival of the Uranium, Bangladesh now becomes 34th nuclear power country.
According to experts and officials concerned, Uranium can generate power at a lower cost of Tk 4.5 only per kilowatt in an eco-friendly manner.
The sources said, the Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Russian Federation are jointly implementing the RNPP, the country’s first ever nuclear power plant project with the latest technology. With the highly efficient wastage treatment system, the RNPP has the least probability of nuclear mishap.
An expert well conversant and having long experience of working in the nuclear sector in Russia said the RNPP is being implemented with adequate measures for wastage treatment for averting any mishap.
The project is being implemented by applying 3.54 generation technology where China used the second generation technology and Chernobyl in Russia used the 1st generation technology.
He said with the highest security measures with the latest technology, the probability rate of any nuclear accident is one by one million.
The total cost of the RNPP is estimated at Tk 11,30,92 crore. Russian government will provide Tk 910,40 (90 percent of the total amount) as loan and Bangladesh government will spend the rest of the amount.
Besides, the trial of power generation is expected to start in next November or in the first half of December.
The fuel was produced at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP) in Russia, a subsidiary of Rosatom's fuel manufacturing company Tevel.
Rosatom as a Russian contractor has been engaged in building the 2400 MW RNPP having two units with a capacity of 1200 MW each.
According to project officials, the government is expecting to commission the first unit of the RNPP in September next year and second unit in the middle of 2025.