All four steam generators for unit 1 of Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) at Rooppur have been installed, according to the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, which is the equipment supplier and technical consultant for the project to build two VVER-1200 type units of 1,200 MW capacity each at the site located on the eastern bank of the river Ganges.
The installation of the first unit’s reactor pressure vessel, weighing more than 334 tons, was completed on October 10, 2021, when it was inaugurated at a formal ceremony attended by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and witnessed via video link by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
A Rosatom statement said the steam generators for the Rooppur NPP were manufactured at its subsidiary Atommash’s plant located in Volgodonsk. While the weight of each steam generator is 350 tons, its length is about 14 meters and the diameter is more than 4 meters.
“Another important stage of the installation works has been completed at power unit 1. The steam generators being installed in the permanent position allows starting welding works on the main circulation pipeline to connect the primary circuit equipment, such as a reactor, steam generators and main circulation pumps”, Rooppur NPP Construction Project Director Aleksey Deriy said in a statement.
The steam generators are the main equipment of the nuclear plant circulation circuit and are designed to transfer the heat produced in the reactor core to the secondary circuit, where the steam to rotate the power unit turbine is consequently generated.
Both the state-of-the-art generation III+ 1,200 MW power units at the Rooppur NPP, located 160 km from the capital Dhaka, will be equipped with active as well as passive safety systems, including molten core catchers.
