The delivery of equipment for the second unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) by the Russian company ZiO-Podolsk has begun recently with shipping of the Bubbler Tank from Russia, official said.
The Tank is manufactured and shipped by ZiO-Podolsk. The company is a concern of Atomenergomash, machine building division of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation - Rosatom.
According to Rosatom, the Bubbler Tank is one of the critical components of a nuclear power plant. It is a part of the reactor plant pressurizer system. The Tank weighs 15 tons, about 8 metres long, 4 metres in height, 2.5 metres in diameter and has a service life of 40 years.
The technical design for the tanks has been developed by the company Gidropress and the detailed design documentation has been prepared by ZiO-Podolsk’s NPP equipment department. This department also provides the manufacture support and installation supervision services.
ZiO-Podolsk’s bubbler tanks are successfully working in a number of nuclear power plants in and outside Russia, including Tianwan NPP in China, Kudankulam NPP in India, Rostov and Leningrad NPPs in Russia.
Russian company Atomenergomash is the supplier of all the equipment for Rooppur NPP reactor hall and major part of the turbine hall equipment. It will also supply steam generators, pump and heat-exchange equipment.
The country’s first 2400 megawatt-capacity Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is being implemented by a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom and collaboration of India. It is high on the Bangladesh government’s agenda, all the way up to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The government believes at least 1200MW unit of electricity from the first nuclear plant will be added to the national grid by 2023. The second with the same amount of power will be launched by 2024.
Active construction phase of Unit 2 started on July 14, 2018 with the pouring of first concrete at the foundation base of the reactor, while the First Concrete ceremony of Unit 1 was held on November 30, 2017.
The Rooppur NPP is being constructed according to the Russian design. The project is to have two units with generation 3+ VVER 1200 reactors. The power plant lifecycle is 100 years at least.
In 2017, the influential international magazine POWER of USA rated the new Russian power unit as one of the best three nuclear power units in the word.
Each stage of the Rooppur NPP construction is stringently being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA).
On 2 October 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the first stone in the foundation of the Rooppur NPP.
Officials said the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will bring about a comprehensive change in the country’s economy, contributing more than two percent to GDP growth.
Once the nuke plant goes into operation, it will offer a window of opportunities, such as ensuring uninterrupted electricity supply to over 15 lakh families and jobs for a large number of people.
Moreover, every year 20-30 students will get opportunities to pursue studies in nuclear science in Russia.
That is apart from the fact that the plant will make special contributions to industrial development and scientific research. Above all, it will signal a release from the ‘monopoly’ fuel of oil, gas and coal for power generation.
