Flushing of safety systems at Rooppur 1

12 December 2022

The flushing of the active and passive safety systems with the open reactor is part of the pre-commissioning operations for the first unit at the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.

The reactor vessel is flushed with demineralised water (Image: Rosatom)

The process sees chemically demineralised water brought into the reactor vessel through the connection pipeline and primary circuit pipelines. The water removes any impurities following the installation, as well as checking that everything has been installed correctly and checking the operability of the pump units in the normal operation and safety systems.

Alexey Deriy, vice president of ASE JSC, director of Rooppur NPP Construction Project, said: "This is the first of a whole series of inspections of equipment and process systems. It is the result of the long-term work of assemblers, adjusters and other specialists involved in the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh."

Rosatom in February 2011 signed an agreement for two reactors to be built at Rooppur for the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. The initial contract for the project, worth USD12.65 billion, was signed in December 2015. The Rooppur plant, 160 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, will feature two Russian VVER-1200 reactors. Rooppur unit 1 is scheduled to begin operation in 2023, with unit 2 following in 2024.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News