On June 19, 2024, steam generators were installed in the design position in the reactor building of Kudankulam NPP Unit 4 in India (general designer and general contractor – Engineering Division of Rosatom State Corporation). All the four steam generators were assembled with Open Top method, which makes it possible to install oversize equipment prior to closing the dome of the reactor building, with the help of external high capacity crane. This method has already been successfully implemented at unit No. 3 and has proven its effectiveness in reducing the construction time and accelerating the start of welding of the reactor coolant pipeline.
“The installation of steam generators at Unit No. 4 by our Indian partners was carried out under normal conditions, quickly and efficiently. The Open Top installation technology, proposed by the Russian Party at Unit No. 3, has again confirmed its effectiveness during this installation, especially when performing all the installation procedures with such high quality as demonstrated by the contractors during Kudankulam NPP construction,” said Anton Chistyakov, Deputy Director for Projects in India, Head of Construction Division of ASE JSC at Kudankulam NPP site.
The key equipment of Unit 4 was manufactured at Atommash Plant – the manufacturing site of AEM-technology company (part of Atomenergomash, Machine Building Division of Rosatom State Corporation).
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Steam generator is a component of the reactor plant primary circuit and is designed for production of dry saturated steam from the heat transferred to the reactor core by the primary circuit coolant. Dry saturated steam produced by the steam generator is used in the turbine plant where the thermal energy of the steam is converted into electric energy. The weight of the steam generator is 307 tons.
Units No 3, 4 and 5, 6 are the second and the third stage of Kudankulam NPP with VVER-1000 reactor. The technical solutions implemented in Kudankulam NPP project characterize ways of further evolutionary development of NPP power units with VVER high power reactor and transition to creation of a new, reliable, safe and economically efficient power unit.
The new power units of Kudankulam NPP comply with the most up-to-date requirements of IAEA in the field of safety. The builder-owner – the technical customer of the facility: Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). General designer and supplier of equipment is ASE JSC (part of Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division). Currently, Kudankulam NPP Units 1 and 2 are operating with the capacity established by the dispatch load schedule.
Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division unites the leading companies of the nuclear industry, namely: Atomstroyexport JSC (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, branches in Russia and abroad), Joint Design Institute – Atomenergoproekt JSC (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg branches – design institutes, branches in Russia and abroad, R&D branches) and subsidiary construction organizations. The Engineering Division ranks first in the world by the order portfolio and the number of NPPs constructed simultaneously across the world. About 80% of the Division’s revenues originate from foreign projects. The Engineering Division implements construction projects for high-power NPPs in Russia and across the world, renders a full range of EPC, EP, EPC(M) services including project management and design activities, and develops Multi-D technologies for the management of complex engineering facilities. The Division relies on the achievements of the Russian nuclear industry and modern cutting-edge technologies.
