The fabrication of guide vanes, to be mounted in the housings of the reactor coolant pump sets designed for installation in the fifth unit of India’s Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), has started in Russia, according to a statement.
The KNPP, located in India’s Tamil Nadu state, is being built by the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) with the assistance of Rosatom, who are the equipment suppliers and technical consultants for the project consisting of six reactor units.
A Rosatom statement earlier this week said that its machine building division Atomenergomash’s subsidiary, AEM Technologies. has begun manufacturing the reactor coolant pump sets, which are a safety feature of the first class in the NPP. The reactor plant equipment of one power unit includes four reactor coolant pump sets.
“The guide vane refers to the reactor coolant pump set internals and consists of upper and lower disks, between which 13 guide blades are to be welded. The guide vane is to be mounted in the pump housing and is intended for setting the centrifugal direction of coolant flow inside the pump”, the statement said.
The KNPP units 1 and 2, equipped with VVER-1000 type reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each, have been connected to the grid in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
The first concrete was poured into the foundation plate of the reactor building for the fifth unit of the KNPP on June 29, 2021, which marked the official commencement of the third phase of construction consisting of units 5 and 6. The construction of unit 6 was officially launched on December 20, 2021, with the first concreting in the foundation slab of the reactor building.
Phase 2 of the KNPP construction involving units 3 and 4, to be equipped similarly with the Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors of 1,000 MW capacity each, are currently at an advanced stage.
