Installation of the core catcher has started at El-Dabaa NPP Unit 4 (Egypt)
The core catcher is one of the main elements of the passive safety systems of up-to-date nuclear power units with Gen III+ VVER-1200 reactors
Moscow – Works for installation of the body of molten corium catcher (the so-called core catcher) of El-Dabaa NPP Unit 4 in Egypt (the General Designer and General Contractor being Rosatom Engineering Division) started on November 19.
The core catcher is long-lead equipment. It consists of several elements with the total weight over 700 tons (the weight of the core catcher body is 155 tons).
“The core catcher is one of the key safety components of power units of Generation III+. It is symbolic that we are beginning the installation of the core catcher at Unit 4 on Nuclear Energy Day celebrated in Egypt on November 19. Works for construction of all the four units of the first nuclear power plant in Egypt are in full swing with observance of all the international requirements. In each of its projects, Rosatom puts safety above all, and the Egyptian construction site is no exception for us,” said Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom.
Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Mahmoud Esmat confirmed that the El-Dabaa NPP project is under constant supervision and that the work is ongoing on schedule to complete all stages and connect it to the grid. He explained the energy sector’s strategy, which focuses on energy balance, diversifying power generation sources, and utilizing new, renewable, and clean energy sources to decrease fuel consumption and lower carbon emissions. Mahmoud Esmat asserted the importance of the peaceful use of nuclear energy as an essential component of a sustainable development strategy and achieving our goals across various sectors, especially in electricity generation.
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El-Dabaa NPP is the first NPP in Egypt. It is being built in the city of El-Dabaa, in the Matrouh province on the Mediterranean coast, approximately 300 km north-west from Cairo. The NPP will consist of four power units, 1200 MW each, with pressurized water reactors of Russian class VVER-1200. This is an evolutionary Gen III+ design which fully complies with all international safety requirements.
Rosatom has passed over from single unique projects to serial conveyor production. Four nuclear power units of this generation are in operation: two reactors of Novovoronezh NPP and two reactors of Leningrad NPP, two power units of Belarus NPP outside Russia. Construction of nuclear power plants under Russian technology is underway in Bangladesh, Hungary, Turkey and China.
El-Dabaa NPP is being constructed in accordance with the package of contracts, which entered into force on December 11, 2017. In accordance with the contractual obligations, the Russian party will not only construct the NPP but will also supply nuclear fuel for the whole life cycle of the NPP and will provide assistance to the Egyptian partners in training of the personnel at the operation and maintenance stages during the first ten years of NPP operation. Besides, under a separate agreement, the Russian party will build special storages and will supply special containers for storing spent nuclear fuel.
Rosatom Engineering Division unites the leading companies of the nuclear industry, namely: Atomstroyexport JSC (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, branches in Russia and abroad), Joint Design Institute – Atomenergoproekt JSC (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg branches – design institutes, branches in Russia and abroad, R&D branches) and subsidiary construction organizations. The Engineering Division ranks first in the world by the order portfolio and the number of NPPs constructed simultaneously across the world. About 80 % of the Division’s revenues originate from foreign projects. The Engineering Division implements construction projects for high-power NPPs in Russia and across the world, renders a full range of EPC, EP, EPC(M) services including project management and design activities, and develops Multi-D technologies for the management of complex engineering facilities. The Division relies on the achievements of the Russian nuclear industry and modern cutting-edge technologies. www.ase-ec.ru