MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) – The second main circulating pump for the first power-generating unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant has been successfully tested in Russia, the Atomenergomash press service told BelTA. Atomenergomash is the mechanical engineering division of the Russian state corporation Rosatom.
Main circulating pumps represent an integral part of reactor units in nuclear power plants. The safety of any nuclear power plant directly depends on the reliable and uninterrupted operation of the pumps.
“The work on the second Belarusian main circulating pump is over. Representatives of the customer were traditionally present during testing. Documents are now being prepared,” noted Yuri Kozlov, Director for Supply Chain of the Central Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau (part of Atomenergomash).
The validation and acceptance tests took place at premises of the Central Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau. Main circulating pumps represent the bulk of the enterprise's output. Performance and reliability of main circulating pumps are always tested before the product is shipped to the customer. The tests are done at the testing facility in the city of Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
The equipment used to test main circulating pumps represents an imitation of the primary circuit of a reactor unit. During testing the circulating pump pumps heat-transport medium — high-pressured water as hot as 300C — inside a closed loop just the kind of work the pump will have to do as part of a real reactor unit. Testing takes several days, with the performance and reliability of the pump closely monitored by engineers and technical specialists. An abundance of sensors and computers allows recording any deviations from designated performance parameters.
For 70 years the Central Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau has been designing and making high-tech equipment for the nuclear energy industry: main circulating pumps, leak-proof pumps, cantilever pumps, feed pumps, and emergency pumps for nuclear power plants as well as a wide range of remote-controlled transport and technology equipment for handling radioactive materials.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is a project to build an AES-2006 type nuclear power plant 18km away from Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The BelNPP will have two power-generating units with the total output capacity of up to 2,400MW (2x1,200MW). In line with the general contract for building the nuclear power plant the first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2018, with the second one to go online in 2020.
