Metallurgists at AEM-Spetsstal (part of Rosatom’s Machine Building Division) have started forging a batch of blanks weighing around 600 tons, which will be used to produce components of the reactor vessel for Unit 6 of Hungary’s Paks II Nuclear Power Plant. The second phase of the plant is being built using the latest Russian design.
The forging process took place in the presence of representatives of the foreign customer.
“The Paks II Nuclear Power Plant project is the largest nuclear investment in the European Union. With the construction of two new power units in Paks, we will be able to produce a significant amount of electricity in a sustainable manner for Hungary’s economy through the end of this century. The long-cycle equipment production is progressing steadily, thanks to significant efforts by Hungarian specialists – from design supervision to licensing and ongoing production monitoring. A tangible result of this is that forging of the Unit 6 reactor vessel has now begun, while the final acceptance of the Unit 5 reactor shell is scheduled for this month,” said Gergely Jákli, President and CEO of Paks II Ltd.
“The Paks II project is progressing according to schedule. The start of long-cycle equipment production for Unit 6, just a year after similar work began for Unit 5, clearly reflects this,” noted Vitaly Polyanin, Vice President of JSC ASE and Project Director for the Paks Nuclear Power Plant construction.
“We have started work on the ‘heart’ of the nuclear power plant – a Generation III+ reactor – for another unit in Hungary. Russian metallurgists and engineers have reached high production rates for Paks II equipment. Forging is currently underway for both Unit 5 and Unit 6 reactors. In the near future, we will begin manufacturing steam generators, pressurisers, safety system tanks, and other primary circuit components, as well as equipment for the turbine hall. To ensure timely and high-quality equipment production, several of our facilities in Moscow, Podolsk, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, and Volgodonsk will be involved,” stated Igor Kotov, Head of Rosatom’s Machine-Building Division.
Reference
Forging blanks is one of the initial stages in manufacturing reactor equipment. The operation is carried out at one of the largest automated forging facilities in Europe. Once the blanks are shaped, they will be sent to another workshop for machining. Eventually, they will become two shells for the VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactor vessel.
The shells are a key structural element of the reactor vessel. They are hollow cylinders that are welded together.
The construction of Paks II is the first modern nuclear project using Russian VVER-1200 reactor design within the European Union. The project is based on a Russian-Hungarian intergovernmental agreement signed on January 14, 2014, along with three basic contracts for the construction of the new plant. The main construction licence for Paks II was issued by the Hungarian regulator in August 2022, confirming the project’s compliance with both Hungarian and EU safety standards. Four units with VVER-1200 reactors are already in operation in Russia, and two more are running at the Belarusian NPP.
Rosatom’s Machine-Building Division is the largest energy engineering holding in Russia by production volume and revenue. It supplies reactor island and turbine hall equipment for all nuclear power plants built to Russian design and develops integrated solutions for energy, oil and gas, and other industrial sectors. The division includes major R&D centres and production sites. AEM-Spetsstal is the first link in Rosatom’s unified production chain, supplying metal for all Russian-design nuclear plants worldwide. https://rosatommd.ru/
Rosatom’s Engineering Division includes leading nuclear industry enterprises: JSC Atomstroyexport (with headquarters in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and branches in Russia and abroad), the Unified Design Institute – JSC Atomenergoproekt (with design and survey branches in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and other locations), and construction subsidiaries. The division holds the largest global portfolio of nuclear construction projects and leads in the number of simultaneously built NPPs worldwide.
Roughly 80 % of the division’s revenue comes from international projects. It builds NPPs in Russia and abroad, provides a full range of EPC, EP, and EPC(M) services, including project management and design, and develops Multi-D technologies for managing complex engineering facilities. The division draws on Russian nuclear industry expertise and modern innovative technologies. www.ase-ec.ru
Russia continues to develop international trade and economic cooperation with global partners. Major international energy projects are progressing, with Rosatom playing an active role.
