Core catcher casing has been installed at Tianwan NPP Unit 7

The installation of the core melt localization device, or the “core catcher”, has started at Tianwan NPP Unit 7.
The first element of the device - the core catcher casing - has been installed in the design position. The core catcher casing is a tank weighing over 156 tons, with the total weight of the device being over 800 tons. Besides the casing, the main components of the core catcher include block-cassettes filled with special non-metallic materials, maintenance platform, cantilever truss and bottom plate.
Alexey Bannik, ASE JSC Vice President for NPP construction in China, pointed out that the core catcher casing is the first large-size long lead manufacture equipment installed in the reactor compartment of Tianwan Unit 7. The core catcher has been adapted for the site conditions and it complies with all the up-to-date safety requirements”, said A.Yu.Bannik.
The core catcher is a Russian invention, it is part of the passive safety system, which is intended for prevention of release of radioactive substances into the environment in the event of a severe accident accompanied by the destruction of the reactor pressure vessel. The core catcher is capable of containing liquid and solid fragments of the core and the structural materials of the reactor for an indefinitely long time keeping the power plant safe for the environment and the people. This operation is one of the critical path activities under the schedule, after which further construction of the reactor pit becomes possible.
For the first time, the core catcher was installed at Tianwan NPP Unit 1. Currently, all the power units of Novovoronezh NPP-2, Leningrad NPP-2, Belarus NPP and Kudankulam NPP in India are equipped with this device.
For reference:
June 8, 2018 saw the signing of a strategic package of documents in Beijing that define the major lines to develop cooperation between Russia and China in the nuclear industry for the next decades. It envisages, in particular, the construction of four new power units with VVER-1200 reactors of III+ generation: Units 7 and 8 of Tianwan NPP and two power units at the new Xudabao site.
The Tianwan NPP construction relies on the Russian WWER-1000 reactor design that fully meets the requirements of modern regulatory and technical documents of China, the Russian Federation and IAEA. The Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant is being constructed by the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC) in cooperation with the Russian company Atomstroyexport.


Communications Division
Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division

For reference:
Rosatom State Corporation 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 innovative state-of-the-art technologies.
We construct reliable and safe NPPs with III+GenVVER reactors that are in line with all international requirements and recommendations.
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