Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) said the ring, made of high-strength steel alloys resistant to thermal and mechanical stress, was a “key and vital component … it transfers the entire weight of the vessel, including its equipment, nuclear fuel, and operating fluids, to the concrete base in a balanced and safe manner. It also ensures the reactor’s stability during operation and contributes to load distribution and resistance to the effects of internal pressures and earthquakes”.
Sherif Helmy, Chairman of Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority, said: “What is happening today … is not merely a technical implementation, but rather a practical expression of Egypt’s national vision to build its own strategic capabilities and enhance its leading role regionally and globally in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.”
Alexey Kononenko, Vice President of JSC ASE – Director of the El Dabaa NPP, said: “This event is the result of the coordinated work of an international team and a symbol of progressive progress. Every step brings us closer to the moment when Egypt will have its own nuclear power plant for the first time in its history. We are proud to be creating a facility that will become the foundation of the country’s energy independence and an example of effective cooperation between Russia and Egypt.”
Reactor pressure vessel
Meanwhile the reactor pressure vessel for unit 1 has been shipped from St Petersburg – it is scheduled to arrive at the site in Egypt in November.
(Image: Rosatom)
Manufacturing of the pressure vessel took 41 months and Helmy said preparations were taking place at El Dabaa’s port to allow for a safe unloading and transport process.
The reactor vessel is about 13 metres long and 4.5 meters in diameter, with a weight of 320 tonnes. The service life is for an initial 60 years, with the possible extension to 80 years.
The ceremony to mark its shipping took place on 26 September at World Atomic Week in Moscow, and coincided with the shipping of the reactor vessel for Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant’s fourth unit.
Igor Kotov, head of Rosatom’s engineering division, said at that event: “The shipment of the ‘heart’ of the first power unit of the El Dabaa NPP in Egypt opens a new chapter of our long-term cooperation.”
Background
El Dabaa will be Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, and the first in Africa since South Africa’s Koeberg was built nearly 40 years ago. The Rosatom-led project, about 320 kilometres north-west of Cairo, will comprise four VVER-1200 units, like those already in operation at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants in Russia, and the Ostrovets plant in Belarus.
Under the 2017 contracts, Rosatom will not only build the plant, but will also supply Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle, including building a storage facility and supplying containers for storing used nuclear fuel. It will also assist Egyptian partners in training personnel and plant maintenance for the first 10 years of its operation. Rosatom said last month that it is aiming for a future service life of 100 years for nuclear power plants.
The four units are being built almost concurrently, with first concrete at unit 1 in July 2022, followed in turn by the others, concluding with first concrete at unit 4 in January 2024. Egypt’s aim is for 9% of electricity to be generated by nuclear by 2030, which would be achieved by the commercial operation of the first two units by that time, directly displacing oil and gas.
