OKBM tests safety systems of NPP-2006 project

23.01.2008 // Nuclear.Ru

OKBM is testing the safety systems of NPP-2006 project

I.I.Afrikantov OKB of Mechanical Engineering (OKBM, Nizhniy Novgorod) has created a stand for testing the safety systems of NPP-2006 project. The press service of OKBM reports that the stand is equipped with a modern information and measuring system for data processing and experimental research. One of the key components of the safety of a nuclear power plant is its passive system, an automated system ensuring the plant’s work when all other sources of energy have been lost.

This innovative system is supposed to be used at Leningrad NPP-2 for removal of heat from the containment shell for prevention of its destruction by excessive pressure in case of an accident. The key peculiarity of the system is that it is always ready for work and operates due to natural coolant flow. In order to ensure its safe and stable operation, it is necessary to prove its efficiency by experiments and to optimize its thermal-hydraulic parameters.

The stand has been designed exactly for this purpose. It allows conducting a wide spectrum of experiments: particularly, to test the efficiency of heat removal under unstable coolant flow and low pressure in cooling circuit; to ensure optimal conditions for steam and steam and water mixture transfer; to analyze the influence of the composition of steam and water mixture in containment shell on the efficiency of the system; to study the operating process at different stages of an accident. The first experiments have proved the efficiency of the system. Such systems are already being introduced under floating and small capacity NPP projects.

The director general of EMAlliance-Atom OJSC Boris Vasilyev and the executive director of the company Vladimir Belousov visited OKBM and inspected the stand on Jan 15 2008. The guests met with the managers of OKBM. The sides discussed the prospects of their cooperation, particularly, the terms of production and delivery of equipment for BN-800, fast-breeder reactor that is being built at Beloyarks Nuclear Power Plant, and the possibility of serial production of reactors for floating NPPs.