Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

[Maisson]

Rooppur plant unit-2: Body parts of core safety system manufactured

The parts will be sent to Bangladesh by the end of this year

The complex for the reactor of unit-1 at the Rooppur nuclear power plant is already more than 20 metres high. It will be raised to 40 metres. Photo: TBS
The manufacture of the first body parts of hydro accumulators for passive core flooding system for the second unit of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has been completed in Russia.

Passive core flooding system is the latest technology to provide safety, which is not affected by human errors.  It is a crucial element designed to release decay heat in the event of a serious coolant accident in the reactor's primary circuit.

Petrozavodsk Branch of "AEM-Technology," a concern of Atomenergomash, the machine-building division of the Russia's State Corporation Rosatom, has been manufacturing the system.

The parts will be sent to Bangladesh by the end of this year once the corresponding infrastructure is ready to install the parts in the reactor area, said a source at the Rooppur project.

The system comprises of eight thick-walled hydro accumulators, each having a capacity of 120 cubic metres. During operation, the accumulators are filled with boric acid solution designated for core cooling.

The body of each hydro accumulator is composed of three shells, each weighing 15.5 tonnes. Assembled with the in-vessel and bottom components, a passive core flooding system accumulator weighs about 77 tonnes.

Light water reactors are the most used at nuclear power generation plants and it is known as conventional technology too.

The nuclear power plant at Ishwardi in Pabna will have two power units, each having 1,200 megawatts of capacity, and the first unit of the plant is scheduled to come into operation by October 2024.

The power units will be equipped with both active and passive safety systems, including Molten Core Catcher. Latest 3+ generation Russian VVER 1200 reactors will be used in the first ever nuclear power plant of Bangladesh. 

Atomenergomash is the single-source manufacturer for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant reactor hall and a supplier for most of the turbine island equipment.

[Rezwan12]

রাশিয়া থেকে নৌপথে যন্ত্রপাতি আসছে রূপপুর বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের

শামীম খান, স্পেশাল করেসপন্ডেন্ট | বাংলানিউজটোয়েন্টিফোর.কম

আপডেট: ২০২০-০২-২৫ ১১:৩০:০৭ এএম

ঢাকা: রূপপুরে নির্মাণাধীন দেশের প্রথম পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের যন্ত্রাপাতি রাশিয়া থেকে আসা শুরু হয়েছে। ইতোমধ্যেই বেশকিছু যন্ত্রাংশ রূপপুরে এসে পৌঁছেছে। তবে আগামী সেপ্টেম্বরে আসবে মূল যন্ত্র রিয়্যাক্টর পেসার ভ্যাসেল।

বিশাল প্রকল্পটির রিয়্যাক্টর থেকে শুরু করে সব যন্ত্রপাতি তৈরি হচ্ছে রাশিয়াতে। এসব সমুদ্র পথে রাশিয়া থেকে মোংলা বন্দরে আনা হচ্ছে। এরপর মোংলা থেকে নদীপথে রূপপুরে প্রকল্পস্থলে যাচ্ছে। আর যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো রেল বা সড়ক পথের চেয়ে নৌপথে পরিবহন করাই সুবিধাজনক ও নির্ভরযোগ্য মনে করছেন সংশ্লিষ্টরা।

শুধু রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের যন্ত্রপাতি আনার জন্য প্রকল্প সংলগ্ন পদ্মানদীতে একটি জেটি (বন্দরের আদলে) নির্মাণ করা হয়েছে। নৌপথে যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো এ জেটিতে নিয়ে আসা হচ্ছে। এছাড়া নদীতে পানির প্রবাহ বাড়লে অর্থাৎ আগামী বর্ষা মৌসুমে ভারী যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো জেটিতে আসতে শুরু করবে।

এ বিষয়ে বিজ্ঞান ও প্রযুক্তি মন্ত্রী স্থপতি ইয়াফেস ওসমান বাংলানিউজকে বলেন, রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের নির্মাণ কাজ যথাযথভাবে এগিয়ে চলছে। যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো নিয়ে আসা শুরু করেছি। এরইমধ্যে প্রথম ইউনিটের ইমারজেন্সি কোর কুলিং সিস্টেমের মূল যন্ত্রাংশের অর্ধেক এসে গেছে। নদীপথে পানি প্রবাহ বাড়লে ভারী যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো আসতে শুরু করবে। যথা সময়ে নির্মাণ কাজ যাতে শেষ করা যায়, সে অনুযায়ীই আমরা এগিয়ে যাচ্ছি।

বিজ্ঞান ও প্রযুক্তি মন্ত্রণালয় এবং রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎ প্রকল্পের সংশ্লিদের সঙ্গে কথা বলে জানা গেছে, প্রকল্পের বেশকিছু গুরুত্বপূর্ণ যন্ত্রাংশ ইতোমধ্যেই রূপপুরে এসে পৌছেছে। গতবছর স্থাপন করা হয়েছে বাড়তি নিরাপত্তার জন্য বিশেষ ডিভাইস কোর ক্যাচার। ইতোমধ্যে প্রথম ইউনিটের ইমারজেন্সি কোর কুলিং সিস্টেমের জন্য মূল যন্ত্রাংশের চারটি অর্থাৎ অর্ধেক চলে এসেছে। 

কোর কুলিং সিস্টেমের যন্ত্রাংশ মোট আটটি। বাকি চারটিও দ্রুত চলে আসবে। চলতি বছর পর্যায়ক্রমে অন্য যন্ত্রপাতিও আসবে। এছাড়া প্রকল্পের মূল যন্ত্র রিয়্যাক্টর প্রেসার ভ্যাসেল আগামী সেপ্টেম্বরে আনা হবে। যা অক্টোবর বা নভেম্বরে প্রকল্পে স্থাপন করা হবে। আর এই রিয়্যাক্টর প্রেসার ভ্যাসেলকে পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের হার্ট বলা হয়।

এ বিষয়ে রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের প্রকল্প পরিচালক ড. শৌকত আকবর বাংলানিউজকে বলেন, কাজ দ্রুত এগিয়ে যাচ্ছে। পর্যায়ক্রমে এর যন্ত্রপাতি আনা হচ্ছে রাশিয়া থেকে।

রাশিয়ার সর্বাধুনিক প্রযুক্তি এবং আর্থিক ও কারিগরি সহযোগিতায় পাবনার ঈশ্বরদীতে রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র নির্মাণ করা হচ্ছে। দুই ইউনিট বিশিষ্ট এই বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের প্রথম ইউনিটের কাজ শেষ হবে ২০২৩ সালে। দ্বিতীয় ইউনিটের শেষ হবে ২০২৪ সালে।

প্রকল্পটির কাজের যথাযথ মান দেখার জন্য দেশি ও আন্তর্জাতিক সংস্থাগুলো নিয়মিত পর্যবেক্ষণে করছে। আন্তর্জাতিক পরমাণু শক্তি সংস্থা (আইএইএ), রাশিয়ার পরমাণু শক্তি রেগুলেটরি বডি, বাংলাদেশ পরমাণু শক্তি নিয়ন্ত্রণ কর্তৃপক্ষ এবং ভারতের বিশেষজ্ঞরা এর নির্মাণ কাজ নিয়মিত পর্যবেক্ষণ করছেন। সর্বশেষ গত দুই ফেব্রুয়ারি আইএইএ’র ডেপুটি ডিরেক্টর জেনারেল প্রকল্প পরিদর্শন করে যান। এছাড়া প্রযুক্তিমন্ত্রী স্থপতি ইয়াফেস ওসমান প্রতি মাসে একাধিক বার প্রকল্পটি পরিদর্শন করছেন।

এদিকে, বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্রের যন্ত্রপাতিগুলো তৈরি হচ্ছে রুশ রাষ্ট্রীয় পরমাণু শক্তি করপোরেশন রোসাটমের মেশিন প্রস্তুতকারী ডিভিশন এটমএনার্গোমাসের চারটি কারখানায়। সেখানে কাজের অগ্রগতি দেখতে রোববার (২৩ ফেব্রুয়ারি) রাশিয়া গেছেন প্রযুক্তিমন্ত্রী স্থপতি ইয়াফেস ওসমান।

আগামী ১ মার্চ তার দেশে ফেরার কথা রয়েছে। এই সময়ে মন্ত্রী কারখানাগুলো ঘুরে যন্ত্রপাতি তৈরির কাজ দেখবেন।  এছাড়া গতবছরও তিনি যন্ত্রপাতি তৈরির কাজ দেখতে সেখানে গিয়েছিলেন।

এ বিষয়ে প্রযুক্তিমন্ত্রী স্থপতি ইয়াফেস ওসমান বাংলানিউজকে বলেন, সব নীতিমালা অনুসরণ করে এই প্রকল্প বাস্তবায়ন হচ্ছে। আইএইএ, রাশিয়ার পরমাণু রেগুলেটরি বডি ও ভারতের বিশেষজ্ঞরা প্রতিনিয়ত কাজ পর্যবেক্ষণ করছেন। আমরাও প্রতিনিয়ত পর্যবেক্ষণের মধ্যে রেখেছি।

বাংলাদেশ সময়: ১১২৬ ঘণ্টা, ফেব্রুয়ারি ২৫, ২০২০

https://www.banglanews24.com/power-fuel/news/bd/773557.details

[Rezwan12]

10 March, 2020 11:07:02 AM

 

Cabinet okays draft protocol with Russia

Rooppur Nuke Plant

Independent Online\ UNB

The Cabinet yesterday endorsed the draft of a protocol to be signed for receiving assistance from Russia over the operation and maintenance of the Ruppoor Nuclear Power Plant after the construction of the country’s first nuke plant.

The approval came from the weekly Cabinet meeting held with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her office.

“It’s essential to receive assistance from Russia for properly running and maintaining the Ruppoor Nuclear Power Plant after launching its operation as it’s the first nuke plant in the country and Bangladesh has no experience of the operation and maintenance of such a plant,” Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said while briefing reporters at the Secretariat after the meeting.   

The protocol will be signed for bringing amendments to the agreement signed on November 2, 2011, between Russian and Bangladesh on Cooperation Concerning the Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant on the Territory of Bangladesh.

The Cabinet Secretary said the Nuclear Power Company Bangladesh Limited will run the Ruppoor Nuclear Power Plant after its construction is completed with the assistance of Russia in line with the existing intern government agreement.

He said now the company is recruiting manpower for the operation of the nuke power plant and Russia provides training to them under the general contract signed with Russian Federation.

The Cabinet also approved the draft of 2nd Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water, Transit and Trade (PIWT&T) between Bangladesh and India in a bid to expand trade between the two countries through waterways, said the Cabinet Secretary.

According to the draft of the 2nd addendum, Badarpur, Sonamura, Kolaghat, Maia,

Jogighopa in India and Ghorashal, Daudkandi, Sultanganj, Aricha, and Bahadurabad shall be added as routes in the PIWT&T signed in June 2015.

Besides, Rajshahi, Sultanganj, Chilmari, Daudkandi and Bahadurabad alongside the existing Narayanganj, Khulna, Mongla, Sirajganj, Ashuganj, and Pangaon in Bangladesh part have been announced as ‘Port of Call’ in the proposed 2nd addendum, according to the factsheet provided during the briefing.

 

http://m.theindependentbd.com/post/240326

[Rezwan12]

Rooppur nuclear power plant on ‘fast track’ despite pandemic

Reazul Bashar, Senior Correspondent,  bdnews24.com

Published: 12 Jul 2020 02:54 PM BdST Updated: 12 Jul 2020 03:00 PM BdST

 

The Rooppur nuclear power project has completed 30 percent of work at a time when the coronavirus pandemic stalled other “megaprojects” in Bangladesh.

The government has increased the foreign workforce in a bid to meet the deadline for completing the first unit of the $12.65 billion project and supply power to the national grid by 2023.

“We have planned to complete the construction of the first reactor building and install the equipment this year. We’ll construct the second unit, but equipment installation will not be possible,” Md Shawkat Akbar, director of the project, said in an interview.

“We had sped up the work before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Construction of the reactor building has progressed a lot. Everything is being done on schedule,” he said. Besides construction, the project has made 27 percent of financial progress.

In 2017, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction of the main concrete structure for the nuclear furnace, with the construction beginning in July of the following year.

Atomstroyexport JSC, an engineering company of Russia’s Rosatom, is scheduled to construct the main structure of the power plant in 68 months from the start of the project.

According to a government plan, the 1,200-megawatt first unit of the project will be able to supply power to the national grid by mid-2023. The second unit will be open in the following year. The megaproject with two units is being constructed on 1,062 acres.

A total of 8,000 people, including 1,800 Russians and other foreign nationals, are working on the project.

At least 87 Russian experts have flown back home since the lockdown was imposed on Mar 26, while 570 experts have arrived from Russia, said Shawkat Akbar. Another 11 experts returned from Germany and 81 Indian experts have been permitted to come from India. More 750 experts from Russia are likely to arrive in July and August.

The coronavirus pandemic stalled Bangladesh’s development projects, including the Padma Bridge, the Dhaka metro-rail and the Karnaphuli tunnel. But the Rooppur project remained unscathed.

“We’re following three methods. We check the body temperature of the staff every day and quarantine anyone with higher temperature for seven days. They can only resume work once they are tested and found fit for work,” said Akbar.

“We check the workers’ temperature again while at work and quarantined them for seven days. We have separate medical teams.”

To ensure social distancing, the authorities introduced a routine for 24 hours for workers to work in groups, Akbar said. Social distancing is maintained while eating at the canteen.

The authorities arranged separate quarantine facilities and those returning from abroad must carry a test report showing ‘negative’ for the coronavirus. They are permitted to join back work after completing the 14 days of quarantine.

“New staff, irrespective of their nationality, must go through coronavirus tests,” he said.

If any worker tests positive for the coronavirus, the entire group of that shift is quarantined for 14 days and a new group takes over, said Akbar.

The construction work is still not hampered as the authorities took those measures, he said. But he declined to disclose the number of coronavirus cases among the project workers.

The nuclear power plant with a five-layer security system is being constructed using a third-generation technology. The containment walls of the first reactor building are already visible. They deployed additional workers to continue the construction work.

The initiative to build a nuclear power plant at Rooppur was taken in 1961. It took half a century to translate the initiative into a project. The project was fast-tracked after the Awami League formed the government in 2009. Hasina laid the foundation stone for the nuclear power plant in 2013.

In 2016, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission signed a contract with Atomstroyexport. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project in 2016, with a record budget in the history of the country.

 

https://bdnews24.com/economy/2020/07/12/rooppur-nuclear-power-plant-on-fast-track-despite-pandemic

[Rezwan12]

1 October, 2020 06:53:07 PM / LAST MODIFIED: 1 October, 2020 08:07:29 PM

Rosatom ships steam generators for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

UNB, Dhaka

Photo: UNB

Russian nuclear agency Rosatom has shipped a set of steam generators for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP), the country’s first under construction nuclear power project.

According to a Rosatom press release, the Volgodonsk branch of JSC “AEM-technology” (a part of the machine-building division of Rosatom – “Atomenergomash”) has shipped the set of steam generators.

The first item was dispatched two months ago, together with the Reactor Pressure Vessel. Two more steam generators were shipped in September.

The last of the four steam generators was transported from the plant to the special birth, where three items with the total weight of more than 1000 tons, will be loaded onto a barge.

The equipment will be transferred to Novorossiysk, then the item will be transported to the Bangladesh by sea. The sea route will be about 14 000 km.

Thus, the main equipment of the Reactor facility for Unit No.1 of Rooppur NPP, has been shipped from the plant site.

Rooppur NPP was designed and now being constructed as per the Russian project.

The power plant will consist of two units with the capacity of 1200 MW each, equipped with VVER reactors of the 3+ generation.

 

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/254045

[Rezwan12]

13 October, 2020 08:36:05 AM / LAST MODIFIED: 13 October, 2020 01:29:07 PM

India's bureaucratic red tape holds up transmission projects for Rooppur Nuclear Plant

UNB, Dhaka

Uncertainty looms large over the timely execution of a slew of power transmission projects aimed at facilitating electricity evacuation from the upcoming 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP). The reason — the Indian financing agency is taking "excessive time" to give a go-ahead for the bidding process, UNB has learnt.

Official sources at Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) said the state-owned power transmission body took up the projects to facilitate power evacuation from RNPP, the country’s maiden under-construction nuclear power project, with support from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC).

Dhaka signed a $1.06 billion loan agreement with New Delhi in 2017 over financing of these projects, with a target to implement them within 2022, as the 1,200 MW first unit of RNPP aims at starting commercial production from the first half of 2023.

The five transmission projects are — the 464 km 400 kV Transmission Lines, including 13km river crossing, the 205 km 230 kV Transmission Lines, including 7 km river crossing, the 400 kV 5 Bay Extensions, the 230 kV 4 Bay Extensions, and qualitative upgradation of Bangladesh Power System for frequency control ,emergency control and related tasks.

Official sources said the 464 km 400 kV Transmission Lines project has been divided into four packages for easy and quick implementation. These are the 102 km Rooppur-Bogra line, the 144 km Rooppur-Gopalganj line, the 147 km Rooppur-Dhaka line, and the 51 km Aminbazar-Kaliakoir line.

The 13 km river crossing work also consists of packages — the 6 km Padma River crossing line and the 7 km Jamuna River crossing line. Similarly, the 230 kV Transmission Lines project is divided into three packages — the 60 km Rooppur-Baghabari line, the 145 km Rooppur-Dhamrai line, and the 7 km Jamuna River crossing line.

Official sources at PGCB said though they have completed the bidding process for some packages of the transmission projects, the remaining are stalled due to the delay in getting clearance from the Indian financing agency.

“Of these packages, the bidding for the most critical river crossing work and bay extensions are suffering due to India's bureaucratic red tape. The necessary approval from India Exim Bank is still awaited," said a top official of PGCB, who did not wish to be named.    

He, however, said that timely commencement of operation of the RNPP project will depend on the timely implementation of the power transmission project. “If power transmission infrastructure is not ready, the Rooppur plant will not be able to start operation even after its timely completion," said the PGCB official.

When contacted, PGCB managing director Golam Kibria admitted the delay in the projects' bidding processes. "But I am hopeful of quick clearance from the Indian financing agency," he said.

 

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/254605

[Rezwan12]

12:00 AM, October 21, 2020 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:11 AM, October 21, 2020

Dream coming true bit by bit

Key machines for long cherished Rooppur power plant arrive in Mongla

Rejaul Karim Byron and Wasim Bin Habib

A nuclear reactor and a steam generator, the key components of the first unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, arrived in Bangladesh yesterday, paving the way for completing the main phase of the mega project.

Traversing 14,000km, a ship carrying the equipment reached Mongla Sea Port in Khulna from Russia around 4:00pm yesterday. The components weigh 673.6 tonnes, said project officials.

"The arrival marks a major milestone in the construction of our dream project with a total capacity of 2,400MW," Md Shawkat Akbar, project director of the nuclear power plant construction project, told The Daily Star.

The ship carrying the VVER-1200 reactor pressure vessel and the steam generator left for Bangladesh on August 20. The components were manufactured at the "Atommash" plant in Volgodonsk, the largest nuclear engineering production site in Russia. The reactor vessel weighs 333.6 tonnes and the steam generator 340 tonnes.

Now, these will be first shifted to a special barge for transportation to the Rooppur construction site in Pabna's Ishwardi upazila, about 160 kilometres northwest of the capital.

Those will then be sent through rivers from Mongla via Kawkhali, Barisal, Chandpur, Mawa and Rajbari to the newly constructed Rooppur river port near the power plant site.

The special barge carrying the components is expected to leave Mongla port on November 5 and reach Rooppur river port on November 21, according to a press release by the science and technology ministry.

In easy terms, a nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled and sustained at a steady rate. The life cycle of a reactor is 60 years with the possibility of further extension, according to Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom.

Each reactor unit comprises a reactor and four circulation loops, with each loop having circulation pipelines, a reactor coolant pump and horizontal steam generator.

Amid growing demand for electricity, the government moved to build the country's first-ever nuclear power plant in Pabna and gave Rosatom the task of implementing it. The government put this ambitious mega project on the list of 10 top priority projects or fast-track projects for completing it on time.

The power plant will have two units -- Rooppur Unit-1 and Unit-2 -- with a power generation capacity of 1,200MW each. A third-generation technology is being used to construct the plant with a five-layer security system.

The first unit is expected to go into commercial operation by 2023 and the second one by 2024.

The foundation stone of the Tk 113,092-crore power plant was laid in October 2013 and construction began on 1,062 acres of land in November 2017.

Project officials said that as of August this year, the project saw 37 percent progress and there will be a major leap in its implementation once the reactor is installed.

"The real progress will be visible from January next year," said a project official seeking anonymity.

Md Shawkat Akbar said, "The reactor for the second unit will arrive in the country soon."

The work of loading uranium fuel to the first reactor will begin in February, 2023, he mentioned.

The project director said they expect to supply power to the national grid from April 2023 on a test basis, and that there will be a test run for a year.

Project officials said the containment walls of the first reactor building have already been built, and construction of the second building will be completed by next year.

The reactor support truss in Unit-1 has already been installed. The purpose of the support truss is to fasten the reactor vessel and to bear its weight loads.

Besides, the work of manufacturing other machinery and equipment for the plant is going on in full swing, mentioned the officials.

They said the government plans to meet 9 percent of the country's electricity requirement from nuclear power. It also seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by the middle of the next decade when both reactors of the new power plant will be in operation.

With the first nuclear power plant at Rooppur, Bangladesh will become the third Asian country -- after India and Pakistan -- to harness the power of atoms.

Nuclear power plants built with VVER-1200 reactors are characterised by an unprecedented level of safety, which allows them to be classified as generation "3+".

 

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/dream-coming-true-bit-bit-1981477