Metallurgical plant AEM-Special Steels (Mechanical engineering division of Rosatom) has manufactured and shipped a large lot of blanks for the equipment of El Dabaa NPP Unit 1, which is being built in Egypt by Rosatom according to the Russian design.
Twenty-four large blanks with a total weight of more than 650 tons were sent to the industrial sites of the division in Volgodonsk, Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg. They will be used to manufacture the equipment for the primary coolant circuit of the reactor plant: reactor vessel, pressurizer, main coolant pipeline.
For the moment, AEM-Special Steels has completed the production of metallurgical blanks for the equipment of El Dabaa NPP Unit 1 by 75 %. The shipment of such quantities of blanks corresponds to the agreed project implementation deadlines and confirms the status of the Russian state corporation as a reliable international partner.
The manufacture of metallurgical products from steels with special properties, intended for operation in special conditions, is a basic stage in the overall production cycle of equipment for a nuclear power plant. AEM-Special Steels plant provides all the key operations of this stage: steelmaking, forging and pressing, thermal and machining. The blanks undergo several levels of thorough inspection of the compliance of the metal properties with the specified parameters, which determine the required level of reliability and safety of the equipment for the manufacture of which they will be used.
The manufacture of the tubes for the reactor hall of El Dabaa NPP Unit 1 has started at Petrozavodskmash, which is the other factory of the Mechanical engineering division of Rosatom. Specialists have started to overlay the tubes that are intended for the main coolant pipeline (MCP). The total weight of the tube set will be 276 tons. Petrozavodskmash was the first plant in Russia, which has mastered the manufacturing technology of seamless clad pipes for nuclear power plants.
It is expected that full completion of the production of blanks for the El Dabaa NPP construction plan will take place before the end of 2024.
Reference
The Mechanical engineering division of Rosatom unites research, engineering and production organizations that create comprehensive technical solutions for nuclear, thermal energy, gas and petrochemical industries, the special steel market and other industries. Currently, it is an equipment package supplier for reactor island and turbine island of nuclear power plants with VVER, the world’s only manufacturer of industrial fast neutron reactors (BN), as well as RITM-200 reactor plants, which ensure the operation of nuclear-powered ice-breakers and, in the future, small nuclear power plants capable of operating on land and water.
El Dabaa NPP is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt, which will be built in the city of El Dabaa in the Matrouh Governorate on the Mediterranean coast. The nuclear power plant will consist of four units with a capacity of 1200 MW each with reactors of the VVER-1200 type (Light Water Reactor) of generation III+. This is the latest generation technology, which already has references and works successfully. There are four units with reactors of this generation in operation in Russia: two reactors each at the Novovoronezh and Leningrad nuclear power plants. Outside Russia, in November 2020, one unit with a VVER-1200 reactor at the Belarusian NPP was connected to the network. The construction of the nuclear power plant is carried out in accordance with a package of contracts that entered into force on December 11, 2017. According to the contractual obligations, the Russian party will not only build the plant, but also supply Russian nuclear fuel for the entire life cycle of the nuclear power plant, and will also provide Egyptian partners with assistance in personnel training and support in the operation and maintenance of the plant during the first 10 years of its operation. As part of another agreement, the Russian party will build a special storage facility and supply spent fuel storage casks.
