Rosatom said a complex logistics operation had been completed to transport large-sized equipment – all four steam generators for the second power unit of the Kursk-II NPP. Each steam generator was delivered sequentially: first by river from the manufacturer's plant, then by special transport to the operators town of Kurchatov. According to schedule, installation of four steam generators at unit 2 is scheduled for the end of 2023. It will be carried out using the lifting equipment in the reactor compartment – a polar crane and a transport portal. All four steam generators were installed in unit 1 at the end of 2022.
Kursk II is intended as a replacement station for the currently operating Kursk NPP, which comprises four RBMK reactors. Units 1&2, currently under construction, are being built with generation 3+ VVER-TOI reactors (standard optimised digital pressurised water power reactor), a development of the VVER-1200 reactor design.
Andrey Osharin, First Deputy Director for the Construction of New Units at Kursk NPP said the steam generators are the main equipment of the plant’s primary circuit and are act as a heat exchanger for the production of steam supplied to the turbogenerator for converting thermal energy into electricity. “Compared to the steam generators of units with VVER-1000 and VVER-1200 reactors, the body length of the VVER-TOI generators has been increased by one metre to 15 metres. They each weigh 355 tonnes, which has made it possible to increase their power.”
Image courtesy of Rosatom
