The Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom’s machine building division Atomenergomash has started manufacturing the set of bends for the main circulation pump being fabricated for units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in India. Rosatom is the equipment supplier and technical consultant for the KNPP operated by the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
According to a Rosatom release, Atomenergomash subsidiary Atommash, located in Volgodonsk, has begun stamping the pipe blanks – “the bends of the main circulation pump” to be installed in Units 5 and 6 being constructed in India’s Tamil Nadu state. The KNPP units 1 and 2, equipped with the Russian-made VVER-1000 type reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each, have been connected to the grid in 2013 and 2016, respectively, while construction is fast underway for the four additional units of similar capacity.
“The work was carried out in two stages at the thermal press site of Atommash. At first, the specialists performed ovalization – the blanks by means of a press were given the necessary oval shape. At the second stage, the bending of items was performed. After a two-stage holding in a furnace at a temperature of 870 to 1080 degrees, the Bend was placed in a specialized stamp. Under the pressure of the press with a force of 6,000 ton-forces, the blank was bent at 29 degrees”, the release said.
“After stamping, the items are subjected to machining. In total, Atommash will manufacture eight bends of the main circulation pump for two units of the plant”, it added.
The VVER-1000 reactors are equipped with state-of-the-art safety features, and the release said the main circulation pump “is a first class safety item”. It circulates the coolant at a nuclear power plant from the reactor to the steam generator, and vice versa, through the pipes of the main circulation pipeline.
