European power generation companies agreed that the most advanced Russian project of the VVER-TOI NPP complies with the European Utility Requirement (EUR). The ceremony of handing of the corresponding certificate was held in St. Petersburg on June 13.
Atomenergoproekt JSC (a company of Rosatom engineering division) is the general designer of VVER-TOI, Hydropress Design Bureau is the developer of the reactor plant and Scientific and Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” is the scientific coordinator. Rosenergoatom JSC is the project owner.
At the ceremony, Mr. Guillaume Jacquard, the EUR President, EDF Deputy Director of the Directorate for Project Support and Digital Transformation, thanked all the participants for their hard work. “I can state that the VVER-TOI Project has passed the most thorough and precise examination and it fully complies with the requirements of EUR,” Mr. Jacquard said.
The conclusions on the compliance of design solutions with the EUR requirements were made by the European experts based on a review of the design documentation and information provided in the documents on the reference project of the Kursk NPP-2.
The analysis included review of the answers to 4,332 fundamental safety-related questions of the EUR requirements, which cover the entire complex of the nuclear power plant.
As a result, European experts concluded that the VEER-TOI design complies with modern views on safety and efficiency of the nuclear power plants. The analysis made it possible to improve the quality of subsequent projects and facilitate future operation of nuclear power plants.
According to Mr. Alexander Lokshin, the President of Rosatom’s engineering division, First Deputy General Director for Operational Management of Rosatom State Corporation, obtaining the EUR certificate is an important assessment of the work done in the industry to develop the modern design of yet another nuclear power plant. “We have developed the VVER-TOI design, where we have applied new technical solutions that increase the level of safety and reliability of NPP operation. The EUR certificate received today is a confirmation of the compliance of these decisions with international requirements.”
Recognition of the compliance of VVER-TOI with “European Utility Requirements” will contribute to the promotion of Russian nuclear technologies in foreign markets.
For reference:
The organization of European electricity producers, the purpose of which is to develop a document titled “European Utility Requirements (EUR)”, was formed in 1992. EUR requirements apply to generation III light-water reactors (LWR). As on today, the EUR consists of 15 operating organizations that represent major European electricity producers. The EUR requirements are aimed at development of standard design of NPPs, balanced in terms of safety, power generation stability, and the cost of electricity. New projects to be elaborated based on these requirements can be easily adjusted to the specific conditions of the sites and to the current specific requirements of national regulatory authorities. Rosenergoatom JSC has been a member of the EUR club since 1993. The first Russian Project that received a certificate of compliance with EUR requirements was AES-92 (General Designer is Atomenergoproekt JSC).
VVER-TOI is a typical design of an optimized and computerized VVER Power Unit. This is an evolutionary development of AES-92 design with VVER-1200. The overall task assigned to the VVER-TOI designers was to develop a standard design of a high-capacity NPP unit capable of competing with rapidly developing and recognized leaders in the field of nuclear energy in all aspects: in terms of technical solutions, technical and economic characteristics of the NPP, safety-related solutions, time period for the construction of NPP, as well as the use of modern information technologies and information management at all stages of its life cycle. At present, Kursk NPP-2 is being built based on VVER-TOI design.
ASE (Rosatom State Corporation Engineering Division) was established by integration of the leading companies of the industry: ASE EC JSC (Nizhny Novgorod), Atomstroyexport JSC (Moscow), Atomenergoproekt JSC (Moscow) and ATOMPROEKT JSC (St.-Petersburg).
ASE is one of the global leaders in nuclear power engineering holding about 30% of the global NPP construction market. Engineering Division operates in Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. 80% of the portfolio include foreign projects.
It implements design and construction projects for high-power NPPs, renders a full range of EPC, EPC(M) services and develops Multi-D technologies for management of complex engineering facilities. The Engineering Division carries out its activities based on the lessons learned from over the 50-year history of the nuclear power industry in Russia and state-of-the-art technologies. We construct reliable and safe NPPs with 3+Gen VVER reactors that are in line with all international requirements and recommendations. www.ase-ec.ru
