Westinghouse Electric Company is to provide a passive hydrogen control system for units 1&2 at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine following a contract from Ukrainian nuclear plant operator Energoatom.
The passive hydrogen-control system is designed to provide additional measures for ensuring containment integrity in the unlikely event of both a design-basis accident and beyond-design-basis accident.
The engineering, design, supply and installation of the system is scheduled to be completed by January 2016, says Westinghouse.
The Westinghouse Passive Autocatalytic Recombiner solution, named NIS-PAR, helps to control and mitigate the effects of hydrogen generation under severe accident conditions. It offers completely passive equipment, little-to-zero maintenance costs, easy installation, the ability to test multiple cartridges thus shortening associated work during outages, and robustness with respect to atmospheric conditions or seismic loads, according to Westinghouse.
As a part of post-Fukushima safety enhancements efforts, Westinghouse has supplied NIS-PARs to various power plants around the world, including Krško (Slovenia), Angra, (Brazil), Vandellós (Spain) and Kashiwasaki Kariwa (Japan).
Westinghouse says has been increasingly providing VVER-type reactors (440/213 and 1000 models) around Europe with a range of products and services to further enhance plant safety in order to fulfill internationally accepted standards.
"Given our proven experience in the VVER-type reactor market, Westinghouse is well placed in Europe to provide Energoatom with innovative safety systems," said Yves Brachet, Westinghouse president, Europe, Middle East and Africa. "More generally, this contract reflects the ongoing commitment of Westinghouse to provide the commercial nuclear power industry with products and services that further improve plant safety and reduce the probability of severe accidents."
Photo: Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (Credit: Energoatom)
