Russian nuclear utility Rosenergoatom has checked the quality of the completed scheduled preventive repair of the turbine generator at unit 3 of the Beloyarsk NPP. The repair involved 50 measures, including reloading the reactor, replacing eight evaporative modules and repairing turbogenerators. The visiting team of specialists was led by the chief technologist at Rosenergoatom’s Department for NPP Maintenance, Repair & Installation, Mikhail Novikov, who identified three positive practices.
In particular, the experts highlighted the development and implementation of a special installation that facilitates the overhaul of generators. Previously, to extract a multi-tonne rotor from a stator, it was necessary to use electric-powered hoists, and now electric trolleys are used. This made it possible to significantly facilitate and accelerate the process of rotor withdrawal, and to increase the reliability and safety of work. A similar trolley has also been made for unit 4 of the plant.
Other positive practices were related to the operation of the dispatcher for the operational control of metal and the manufacture of a stand for storing the rotor of circulation pumps at the unit’s pump station. “The next scheduled preventive repair at unit 3 is scheduled for July-August 2024, said Beloyarsk NPP Director Ivan Sidorov. “The work will include the overload of 89 heat-selecting assemblies, the repair of electric motors at the main circulation pumps, and the maintenance of the main equipment.”
The Beloyarsk NPP at Zarechny, in the Sverdlovsk region, comprises four units. Units 1&2, both light water graphite reactors, are permanently shut down. Units 3&4 are fast neutron reactors with gross electrical capacity of 600 MWe and 885 MWe respectively.
Image: Engineers repair the turbine generator rotor at Beloyarsk 3 (courtesy of Beloyarsk NPP)
