January-February 2019 NPJ

Nuclear Plant Journal, January-February 2019 NuclearPlantJournal.com 9 Hanhikivi Fennovoima , Finland, has received a new schedule estimation from the plant supplier RAOS Project on the Hanhikivi 1 -project’s milestones. The goal is to receive the construction license and to start the construction of the plant in 2021. Accordingly, the commercial operation of the plant would begin in 2028. Fennovoima and the plant supplier are developing an overall project schedule based on the received information. This process is estimated to be completed during Q1 2019. The construction license for the nuclear power plant is granted by the government. A prerequisite to obtaining the license is a favorable safety assessment from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority STUK. Fennovoima is currently providing STUK with the nuclear power plant design documentation for assessment. The plant supplier is responsible for the preparation of the design documentation needed for the construction license and for its delivery to Fennovoima. Contact: Heli Nikula, Fennovoima, telephone: 358 20 757 8429. Rooppur January 30, 2019 saw the completion of concrete works for the Unit No. 1 of Rooppur NPP (Bangladesh) turbine hall foundation slab. The slab structure received 3,813 tonnes of rebar and 24,285 cubic meters of concrete. This will be followed by wall erection works for the Unit No. 1 reactor building and auxiliary reactor compartment. Specialists employed at the construction site for the first NPP of Bangladesh have commenced the preparations for this scope. These works have been fulfilled in cooperation with leading specialized European and Bangladeshi companies under the management of ASE (Engineering Division of ROSATOM , Russia). The previous day, January 29, 2019, witnessed the completion of in-situ soil stabilization operations using the deep mixing method under main and auxiliary buildings and structures of the Rooppur NPP construction site. As stressed by the Vice-President, Director of theRooppurNPPConstruction Project, Mr. Sergey Lastochkin, completion of this type of works securely ensures that the foundation soils at the Rooppur NPP construction site meet the design requirements for a load-carrying capacity. The Rooppur NPP to be powered by two VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2400 MW is constructed under the Russian design 160 km. Atomstroyexport (Rosatom Engi- neering Division) acts as the General Contractor for the Rooppur NPP con- struction. The Russian design using VVER-1200 reactors was chosen for the first NPP of Bangladesh as it had been successfully implemented at Power Unit No. 1 of the Novovoronezh-2 NPP. Contact: Andrey Cheremisinov, ROSATOM, telephone: 7 499 949 4412, fax: 7 499 949 2722, email: press@ rosatominternational.com. Flamanville Hot functional testing of the Flamanville EPR in France, which had been scheduled to start before the end of 2018, will begin in February, 2019, EDF said. The loading of fuel into the 1650 MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) is still expected by the end of this year. In a PWR, steam generators transfer reactor core heat from the primary coolant loop into a secondary loop where it can be used to generate electricity. The secondary loop is a closed system in which steam produced in the steam generator is conducted towards the turbine. Once condensed, the water is returned to the steam generator. A quality deviation in the welding of the main secondary system of the Flamanville EPR in Normandy, northern France, was detected on March 21, 2018 during the initial comprehensive inspection, a regulatory requirement prior to the reactor starting up. This inspection includes an examination of the welds in the primary and secondary systems, and allows an initial reference state of the plant to be established before it begins operating. Further deviations in secondary system welds were subsequently detected. In July, 2018, EDF said a total of 33 welds were found to have quality deficiencies and will be repaired. A further 20 welds will be redone, even though they do not have any defects, it added. At that time, EDF revised its start-up scheduled for the Flamanville EPR. Hot functional tests - which involve checking the equipment under similar temperature and pressure conditions to those under which it will operate - had been due to start that month, but began at the end of 2018. The loading of fuel into the unit’s core was rescheduled to late- 2019 instead of late-2018. The company also raised the target construction costs for the plant from EUR10.5 billion (USD11.9 billion) to EUR10.9 billion (at the 2015 rate, excluding interim interest). Source, World Nuclear News , website: www.world-nuclear-news.org Hinkley Point C First concrete has been poured for the ‘common raft’ of Hinkley Point C, on which the reactor building and safety systems will be constructed. The major milestone in the construction was announced by EDF Energy. The raft will be a 4500 tonne cross-shaped platform of nuclear grade concrete, reinforced with steel, which will support the reactor building and the fuel building as well as four separate sections for electrical and safeguards systems. EDF Energy said the first 2000 cubic metre portion was poured over 30 hours to a thickness of 3.2 metres. Four more pours will follow before the raft will be complete, scheduled in 2019. Consent for this work was granted by the Office for Nuclear Regulation on 23 November, which judged EDF Energy and its contractors ready to proceed past this so- called hold point. The raft is the second safety-related concrete item to be constructed at Hinkley Point C. In March 2017 EDF Energy placed structural concrete for the technical galleries which run beneath the plant. Hinkley Point C is a new nuclear power plant in Somerset, England. With two EPR reactors designed by Framatome it is planned to supply about 7% of UK electricity, with the first reactor starting up in 2023. EDF Energy said yesterday’s concrete pour was the final milestone for this year. Source, World Nuclear News , website: www.world-nuclear-news.org