Nuclear cooperation between India and Russia got a boost with Atommash AEM Technologies, Volgodonsk branch (part of Rosatom Machine Building Division – Atomenergomash) completing welding of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Unit No. 5.
According to an official statement, 11,000 heat-exchange coils and preliminary components have been installed inside the steam generator. Over the course of seven days, the heads are automatically welded at a temperature between 120 and 250 degrees. In addition, 935 kg of flux and 660 kg of wire were required to weld the two welds.
As part of the assessment, specialists will fire welds locally and perform a full range of technical inspections, including manual check-ups, hydraulic tests, and eddy-current tests. As part of the reactor facility, the steam generator is a heat exchanger that belongs to the first safety class.
A 14-meter-long and over four-meter-diameter piece of equipment weighs 350 tons and is 14 meters long. Four steam generators are included in one NPP unit. Located in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, Kudankulam NPP has VVER-1000 power units. Kudankulam NPP’s first power unit has been running at its design power level of 1,000 MW since February 2016.
