Rosatom completed installation of a turbine unit at the first VVER-TOI power unit of Kursk NPP-2 under construction
2024-01-30 18:01
The turbine installation was completed with the shaft line alignment (this is the final alignment of the turbine and generator rotors and the alignment of all major housing parts of the turbine and generator). A lot of work preceded the installation: alignment of the bearing housings, alignment of the rotors to the coupling halves, alignment of the cylinders to the rotors, etc.
At the end of the works, a quality check was carried out, i.e. all the formulary measurements required by the manufacturer were performed and presented to the Chief Engineer. The completion of the operation allowed the start of the third (final) stage of concreting - filling of the foundation frames and wells of the turbine and generator. About 35 people were involved in the works.
Since the completion of the work, the main parts of the turbine unit have been set in the design position. Further on, precise fitting of non-hull parts will be performed.
"Shaft line alignment is, in my opinion, the most important and complex operation in turbine assembly. The accuracy and quality of this technological operation directly affects the longevity and quality of the turbine during industrial operation. The complexity of the operation lies in the accuracy of the work. For example, the crank tolerance is 0.02 mm. The equipment has colossal size and weight: the total length of the shaft line is about 58 metres, the total weight of the rotors is 800 tonnes," commented Alexander Uvakin, Director of Kursk NPP.
"We managed to finish this technological operation ahead of schedule thanks to the optimisation of the work process - clear distribution of responsibilities among the builders, personal involvement and responsibility of all personnel, and extensive experience of work at previous nuclear construction sites," said Oleg Shperle, Vice President of JSC Atomstroyexport, Project Director for the construction of Kursk NPP-2.