MINSK, 28 November (BelTA) – The Russian engineering company TsKBM (part of Atomenergomash, which is the mechanical engineering division of the Russian state corporation Rosatom) has finished testing main circulation pumps GTsNA-1391, BelTA learned from the Atomenergomash press service.
The equipment is ready for shipment. It will be used as part of the second power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant, which is being built in line with the Russian Generation III+ nuclear power plant design featuring VVER-1200 units.
TsKBM is Russia's only developer and manufacturer of main circulation pumps for all types of Russian nuclear reactors. Main circulation pumps represent an alienable component of the reactor unit. The pumps keep the heat transfer agent flowing in the first circuit of the reactor and are designed to handle extreme pressures and temperatures. The safety of any nuclear power plant directly depends on the reliable and uninterrupted operation of these pumps. The company sent a set of main circulation pumps for the first unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant in December 2016.
Main circulation pumps are tested in the town of Sosnovy Bor in Leningrad Oblast. The test bench is designed as a closed primary circuit of the nuclear reactor. The tested main circulation pump is plugged into the test bench. In the course of testing a pump has to push 27,000m3 of the heat transfer agent per hour (or as much as ten Olympic-size swimming pools per hour) with temperatures up to 300C and the pressure at 160 atmospheres. The conditions match those this piece of equipment will have to endure as part of a live reactor unit. The main circulation pumps are designed to last for 60 years.
Dozens of main circulation pumps designed for Russian and foreign nuclear power plants have been tested by TsKBM since 2001.
