Rosatom starts installation of equipment at the fuel fabrication/re-fabrication unit of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex, which is under construction at the site of Siberian Chemical Plant (an enterprise of TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom in Tomsk region, West Siberia).
The Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex is under way within the strategic “Proryv” (Rus. – “the Breakthrough”) project. It will include three linked facilities, making up a closed nuclear fuel cycle at one site: the fuel fabrication/re-fabrication unit (FRU), the 300 MW nuclear power plant with the fast neutron BREST-OD-300 reactor, and the unit for spent fuel reprocessing.
The first shop-floor prepared for equipment installation is the decontamination section of the fuel rods production line. Currently, there are over 40 items of equipment with total weight about 110 tons at the FRU site.
“There is no other such equipment anywhere else in the world, and, thus, no typical approach for construction of such facilities. This project is unique completely, from the drawings to the installation schemes”, commented Alexander Gusev, deputy director general of Siberian Chemical Plant in charge for the “Proryv” project.
Due to the unique technical solutions, installation of the main technological equipment is pre-worked out in digital mode (4D modeling), in order to minimize any possible mismatches and optimize the sequence of works.
The installation of equipment at the FRU will last for about a year and a half. The site of the future 300 MW NPP, powered by the BREST-OD-300 reactor, is currently being prepared for the start of construction works.
“Proryv” or “the Breakthrough” project targets creation of the new technology platform for the industry with closed nuclear fuel cycle, as well as tackling the issues of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. One of the project implementations is construction of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex with a lead-cooled BREST-OD-300 fast neutron reactor facility with an on-site closed nuclear fuel cycle.
TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom incorporates enterprises for the fabrication of nuclear fuel, conversion and enrichment of uranium, production of gas centrifuges, as well as research and design organizations. It is the only supplier of nuclear fuel for Russian nuclear power plants. TVEL Fuel Company of Rosatom provides nuclear fuel for 73 power reactors in 13 countries worldwide, research reactors in eight countries, as well as transport reactors of the Russian nuclear fleet. Every sixth power reactor in the world operates on fuel manufactured by TVEL. www.tvel.ru
