The construction of evaporation cooling tower at Unit 1 of Kursk NPP-2 is completed. It has become the tallest in Russia, its height being 179 meters. Earlier, the record was set by the cooling tower of Novovoronezh NPP Unit 7 (171 meters) whose height can be compared to the famous skyscraper – the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow (172 meters).
“The VVER-TOI design takes into account the experience of operation of cooling towers of other NPPs due to which the heat removing capacity is increased by about 22%. To increase the capacity, the cooling tower was made higher. The 179-m structure will ensure a stable operation of the power unit, without reducing the power generation, even in the hottest summer period. The evaporative cooling tower of the NPP can cool up to 160 thousand cubic meters of water per hour”, said Andrey Osharin, Acting Director of Kursk NPP for construction of new power units.
The construction of the highest cooling tower in Russia lasted for 2 years and 10 months. Special hydrophilic concrete was used for concreting of the tower. The concrete repels water and complies with all the required water repellant standards. In total, about 14 000 cubic meters of concrete mix were spent. Such an amount would be sufficient for the construction of three 16-storey two-section apartment buildings. The works were performed with a unique crane, which can gradually increase its height up to 200 meters.
“Specialists of SMU1 LLC applied a number of innovational solutions which made it possible to speed up the concreting without compromising the quality. Thus, the first three layers were concreted in 4 sections, and the next layers – only in one. The builders of Kursk NPP-2 have already shared their experience with the Indian partners who construct cooling towers at Rooppur NPP. Now that the concreting is complete, the next task is installation of pre-cast reinforced concrete inside the cooling tower under the water traps, the water lifting routes and the supply pipelines. The completion of these works will mean that the cooling tower is ready for operation”, said Oleg Shperle, Vice President of ASE JSC - Director of Kursk NPP construction project.
Kursk NPP-2 design envisages the construction of two evaporation cooling towers – one for each power unit. The cooling towers operate as part of the NPP cooling system. Water circulates in a close loop and cools systems and elements of the NPP buildings, including the turbine spent steam. The cooling towers perform the same functions as the water reservoirs – they dissipate excessive heat released during water cooling, into the atmosphere. The design service life of the cooling tower civil structures is 100 hears.
The video archive of the construction of the highest cooling tower can be found at https://disk.yandex.ru/d/Hth7F15nSnP8jQ
The construction of Power Units 1 and 2 of Kursk NPP-2 is performed within the framework of federal project “Designing and construction of reference power units of nuclear power plants” of comprehensive program “Development of research and technology in the field of use of atomic energy in the Russian Federation up to 2024”.