On March 21, 2023, the first heavy and oversized equipment for the El-Dabaa NPP, the core catcher for Unit 1, arrived to the El-Dabaa NPP construction site in Egypt (the general designer and general contractor is ROSATOM Engineering Division).
In the beginning of March 2023, the ship carrying three main components of the core catcher departed the port of St. Petersburg heading towards the El-Dabaa NPP construction site in Egypt.
Eng. Mohamed Ramadan – Vice Board Chairman for Operation and Maintenance of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority of Egypt (NPPA) and Dr. Mohammed Dwiddar – Project Manager of El-Dabaa NPP Project attended the technical event on behalf of NPPA, as well as Mr. Grigory Sosnin – ASE JSC Vice-President – Director for El-Dabaa NPP construction project, in addition to project teams from ROSATOM Engineering Division and NPPA.
“We are here to witness the achievement of a key milestone in the implementation of the El-Dabaa NPP Project with the arrival of the first long lead equipment to the construction site. The NPPA, in cooperation with Egyptian entities, exerted significant efforts to fulfil the infrastructure requirements related to the implementation of the Project, including in particular, constructing a docking facility at the site to receive heavy and oversized equipment and ensuring the readiness of the docking facility to receive the first long lead equipment of the NPP. The core catcher for unit 1 is the first shipment to arrive to the docking facility constructed at the site and marks a landmark moment in the history of the El-Dabaa NPP Project”, said Mohamed Ramadan.
“A significant event took place today, marking the arrival of the first long-lead equipment, the core catcher for unit 1. Two years ago, we visited a manufacture in Syzran where manufacturing of this technology-intensive equipment started. Now the core catcher has finally arrived at the site. It is one of the most important safety elements of NPPs based on generation III+ VVER reactors. It ensures that we are building the safest NPP in the world”, said Mr. Grigory Sosnin.
The core catcher is one of the main elements of the passive safety systems of the unit; it is part of most advanced nuclear power units with VVER-1200 reactors of generation III+. It is a unique know-how of Russian nuclear experts which ensures the safety of the environment and the people in any scenarios of the NPP operation. The core catcher is a container in the shape of a steel cone which, in case of an emergency, securely retains the fragments of the molten core and prevents their discharge beyond the reactor building containment. During the NPP operation, the core catcher is filled with special materials; when interacting with them, the core loses part of its accumulated heat.
For reference:
El-Dabaa NPP is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt which will be built in the city of El-Dabaa, Matrouh province, on the Mediterranean coast, approximately 300 km North-West of Cairo. The NPP will consist of four power units, 1200 MW each, with VVER-1200 reactors (pressurized water reactor) of generation III+. This is the newest generation technology, which has references and is already operating successfully. There are four operational power units of this generation: two reactors at Novovoronezh NPP and two at Leningrad NPP. Outside Russia, one power unit of Belarus NPP with VVER-1200 reactor was connected to the grid in November 2020.
The NPP is being constructed in accordance with the package of contracts which entered into force on December 11, 2017. In accordance with the contractual obligations, the Russian party will not only construct the power plant but will also supply nuclear fuel for the whole life cycle of the NPP and will provide assistance to the Egyptian partners in training of the personnel and support of operation and service of the plant during the first 10 years of its operation. Under a separate agreement, the Russian party will build a special storage and will supply containers for storing spent nuclear fuel.
