OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2010. The nuclear reactor shell manufactured by Izhorskiye Zavody for the first power unit of the Novovoronezh NPP-2 has successfully passed hydraulic testing.

The results of the hydraulic tests were evaluated by the committee comprising representatives of OKB Hydropress, FGUP VO Bezopasnost, OAO Atomenergoproekt, OAO Energoatom and ОАО Izhorskiye Zavody.

Reactor shell tests are conducted on a special test bench according to the program and methods of the hydraulic testing. During the tests the reactor shell experiences maximum pressure of 24.5 MPa according to the technological procedures.

The hydraulic testing has demonstrated the durability of the main metal and welding seams of the reactor shell.

The Novovoronezh NPP-2 reactor shell is the first piece of equipment supplied to Russian nuclear power plants after the ‘nuclear pause’ of the 1990s. The reactor unit for Novovoronezh NPP-2 is the head unit of the AES-2006 project and the first one of 26 nuclear power units to be constructed within the framework of the Federal target program of the nuclear power development.

AES-2006 project includes a reactor unit with VVER-1200 reactor and features a number of constructive enhancements that increase safety, improve technical and economical performance and raise the power unit’s lifetime to 60 years.

Increase in the nuclear power unit lifetime involves increased requirements towards the reactor shell durability, including the steel’s chemical composition in order to reduce the critical temperature for brittleness. Besides, VVER-1200 includes a number of constructive features: an increased shell diameter and a number of witness sample sets that are used to monitor the current condition and determine the estimates of the changes in the shell’s metal characteristics.