The concreting of the outer containment building of unit 1 of the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh has been completed in 110 days, 45 days ahead of schedule, Rosatom has said.

(Image: Rosatom)

The Russian company said the time savings were the results of implementing suggestions for "process improvements such as the use of double formwork panels and manufacturing of double-concave formwork panels prior to installation".

There were 1383 cubic metres of concrete used in the dome part of the process. The completion ahead of schedule allowed the inner and outer parts of the steel structures of the passive heat removal system deflector to be installed in the design position ahead of schedule. Those two structures weigh 140 and 110 tonnes each and have to be positioned with a precision of 10mm.

Alexey Deriy, Director of Rooppur NPP construction project, said:  "This operation allowed installation of the deflector ahead of schedule and opened the possibility for installation of heat exchangers, heat exchanging module casings and PHRS [passive heat removal system] air ducts."

Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The Rooppur plant, 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, will feature two Russian VVER-1200 reactors. Last October the project director Shaukat Akbar was quoted by the Dhaka Tribune as saying they were hoping to meet the target of starting production of the first unit on a trial basis by the end of 2023 and "be fully ready to supply in 2024".

Researched and written by World Nuclear News