Capacity boost for Russian nuclear supply chain

09 March 2009

 ZiO-Podolsk factory (Visualrian)

Inside the ZiO-Podolsk factory (Image: Visualrian)

 

Russian heavy equipment manufacturer ZiO-Podolsk is increasing capacity to be able to produce four nuclear equipment sets per year.


The company is on target to complete the reactor pressure vessel for the BN-800 fast reactor at Beloyarsk early next year in time for commercial operation in 2012, according to a Nuclear.Ru report. It is investing 2.9 billion roubles by 2015, with 1 billion roubles of that to come by the end of 2009. The company is also making steam generators for new nuclear power plants plants at Novovoronezh, Kalinin 4 and Leningrad. 

 

Since 2006 ZiO-Podolsk has been a 51%-owned subsidiary of Atomenergomash, with the remainder owned by Renova Group (25%) and EMAlliance (24%). The BN-800 reactor pressure vessel is 13 metres in diameter, and a unique 16-meter rotary-table milling machine is needed to manufacture it. Steel for the component has been sourced from South Korea.

 

Separately, Power Machines' Kaluga Turbine Plant is to make a share offer worth 780 million roubles to help fund an investment program worth over 1.2 billion roubles to 2012. By that date, the facility managers are aiming to double output of steam turbines after purchasing manufacturing equipment from Italy, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.