The reloading machine at unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh has been prepared for the loading of fuel simulators. Service engineers from JSC Atomtekhenergo (part of Rosatom’s Electric Power Division) have completed the preparation of the reloading machine for loading 163 simulators of fuel assemblies.
The nuclear fuel reloading machine is designed to load fresh nuclear fuel and remove used nuclear fuel from the core. The equipment, weighing more than 60 tonnes, is located above the used fuel pool and reactor shaft and consists of a mechanical part (bridge, bogie, maintenance platform), control system and monitoring system. Using this equipment, control and remote visual monitoring of the process of reloading and installing nuclear fuel into the reactor is carried out.
“The reloading machine is one of the most important elements of the safe operation of a nuclear power plant. It combines mechanical, lifting, electrical devices, a control system and must have high accuracy to perform work with fuel assemblies,” said Denis Muzlov, director of the Bangladesh branch of Atomtekhenergo. “The requirements for the margin of error of the reloading machine reaching a given coordinate are no more than 2 mm,” he commented. This is the final stage in preparation for the loading of simulated fuel assemblies into the reactor core, which is planned for the end of July.
