South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility has signed a contract with Canada’s Candu Energy to produce and supply feeder pipes for unit 1 of Romania’s Cernavoda NPP. This is the fifth order for feeder pipes, following those for NPPs in China and Canada. Feeder pipes are an important part of a pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR). They are pipes through which coolant flows to control reactor temperature. Under this contract, Doosan Enerbility will supply a total of 1,520 feeder pipes to Candu Energy by 2027.
Cernavoda 1 began commercial operation in 1996. It is one of two 700 MWe Candu-6 PHWRs at the NPP. Nuclear utility SN Nuclearelectrica is planning to refurbish the reactor and extend the total operating lifetime to approximately 60 years. Its current operating licence is due to expire in 2026 and will undergo a refurbishment to enable operation for another 30 years. The feeder pipes supplied by Doosan Enerbility will be used for this upgrade project. In addition, a consortium of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Candu Energy, and Italy’s Ansaldo Nuclear is promoting the third phase of the plant’s refurbishment project.
“We won this order thanks to our previous successful delivery of feeder pipes for nuclear power plants in China and Canada as well as multifaceted supporting activities by the Korean government and KHNP to export nuclear power plants,” said Kim Jong-doo, head of Doosan Enerbility’s Nuclear Power Business Group. “We will do everything we can do to secure perfect product quality for this project and contribute to scaling up the export of Korean nuclear power plants.”
Other recent contracts won by Doosan Enerbility include the KRW1,600bn ($1.2bn) contract won in 2022 for construction of the turbine island at the El Dabaa NPP in Egypt; the supplier contract won in 2021 for the Man-Machine Interface System(MMIS) components of China’s Xudabao NPP units 3&4 Tianwan NPP units 7&8, as well as a feeder pipe supplier contract for four PHWR NPPs (Qinshan NPP units 1&2 in China, Canada’s Point Lepreau NPP and Canada’s Bruce NPP unit 6).
Image: Cernavoda nuclear power plant
