Works on the pre-assembly outer containment dome of unit-1 have started at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and the dome is scheduled to be installed in October.
According to a release of the Rosatom, assembly and subsequent erection and concreting works are being performed by specialists of Trest RosSEM, a subsidiary of Rosatom Engineering Division of Russia.
The Rooppur NPP project is being implemented with technical and financial assistance from Russia while Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division is the designer and general contractor of the project.
“Installation of the outer containment dome is the final stage of civil works in the construction of the power unit. It opens up a possibility for construction of structures and equipment of the passive heat removal systems and marks an important step for the beginning of physical start-up”, said Alexey Deriy, Vice President of ASE and Project Director for Rooppur NPP Construction.
The outer containment dome consists of two parts: lower and upper one, which were dubbed as the Skirt and the Headpiece by construction workers.
The lower part consists of 12 individual segments, the total weight of each being 18 tons including reinforcements, while the dome part consists of 17 such segments.
The entire dome will be completely assembled on the ground, followed by the installation of its lower part at an elevation of +48.880 metres.
After its alignment and fixing, the upper part will be installed at an elevation of +57.140 metres. Upon completion of the installation of both the parts, the outer containment dome will be concreted.
The stage of outer containment dome preparation, assembly, installation and concreting is one of the longest in the construction of a power unit and amounts to 1,151 days.
In order to reduce the time for completion of this stage, RPS project (Optimisation of 10UJA outer containment dome structures erection from elevation +16.450 to elevation +64.500 at Rooppur NPP) has been undertaken.
The targeted duration of works under the project will be reduced to 584 days only.
According to official sources at Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, the power plant will have two units each having 1,200 MW production capacity.
Of these, the first unit is nearing completion and expected to start commercial operations in 2023 while the second unit will be ready in 2024. But recently, the first unit’s operation was rescheduled to 2024 and the second unit to 2025.
