Assembly has begun of the prototype main circulation pump (MCP) for the Brest-OD-300 fast reactor under construction at Russia’s Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) in Seversk. The Brest fast neutron reactor is part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK) facility which SCC has been responsible for implementing since 2011 as part of the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. ODEK will also include a module for fabrication and refabrication of nuclear fuel and a module for reprocessing irradiated fuel. Brest will be the world’s first reactor to use liquid lead as a coolant.
The MCP unit will be used to pump molten lead with a temperature of over 420 degrees Celsius, which will serve as coolant for the reactor.
It was developed and manufactured by the Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (TsKBM, part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division).
With the help of a special tilter, the shipping container housing the MCP was transferred to a vertical position, the pump was removed and moved to a slipway for assembly by Titan-2 specialists. The engine that will drive the pump will be installed in the upper part of the MCP after the assembled pump unit is lowered into a 13-metre column for molten lead. The equipment will then be tested. The total weight of the unit is more than 30 tonnes.
Tital-2 has already received a positive conclusion from regulator Rostekhnadzor on the compliance of the MCP acceptance test bench with the requirements of the design documentation. This approves the stand for operation. During 2023, various characteristics will be tested under the control of TsKBM.
