Russian Nuclear Deals: News

ALAMO wrote:
There is more than that.
Russia - first of all - creates a whole structure of high-class education and specialists, locally. Usually, deal with Rosatom is assisted by modern, top class nuclear science. Binding with Russia for nuclear energy means that you will get world's finest nuclear specialists & scientists, and the most advanced technological solutions, for a lesser cost, long-term financing, full support, fuel supplies, and recycling.
There are only two causes of joining the US nuclear program. One is to get alternative solutions in your hands, to study it and exploit - which is the China case. Or being a vassal state set to subsidize falling apart and partially non existing Murican nuclear sector.

I know Ukrainians arent the most likeable people in recent times but dont you think that is a bit derogatory? Apes?

Possibly after the fall of EU Italy will be able to choose its own partners, even if most of my fellow countrymen have been brainwashed into perceiving Russia as an enemy.

In this case it becomes easy for China to block out America and her friends and survive alone. Russia can too..

The fact they had to do import substitution in 2024 for components in a nuclear reactor is highly worrying. I suspect this was something that used to be made in Ukraine. After Chernobyl the Soviet Union gave priority to build safer VVERs in Ukraine and these were largely built by local heavy industry. When construction elsewhere began a lot of components from Ukraine were used. Well better later than never.

As the director of the Rostov NPP Andrey Salnikov noted, parts that the plant does not produce independently are ordered, among other things, from machine-building enterprises in Volgodonsk, which are focused on the production of equipment for nuclear power plants. The policy of import substitution gives nuclear power plants the opportunity to occupy new niches in the market.

I suspect the reactor at Rostov was made with some Ukrainian components. Otherwise they wouldn't talk about import substitution.

05.05.2023  INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ROSTOV NPP

More than 150 types of spare parts will be put into production at the Rostov NPP site as part of the import substitution program
At the Rostov NPP in Volgodonsk, as part of the import substitution program, the production of parts for in-house needs has started on the basis of the renovated centralized repair shop (CRS). In the list of components that were previously purchased abroad, and now they will be manufactured directly at the site of the nuclear power plant, there are already more than 150 items that are not difficult to manufacture - shafts, axles, hubs, valve stems, which are actively used in the repair and maintenance of turbines and pumping equipment.

“Today, Rosenergoatom pays great attention to import substitution issues, a program has been created, according to which we are moving forward and have already achieved some success. Therefore, to launch the production of spare parts for the needs of the nuclear power plant, the machine park of the centralized repair shop was modernized and updated. The tasks of the design team, which develops the necessary documentation for the manufacture of parts on its own base, were also expanded. This year, we have received all permits and are starting to produce components at our site,” says Andrey Salnikov, director of the Rostov NPP.

For three years, as part of the modernization of the machine park of mechanical repair shops, the equipment was updated by 111%. Now more than 50 machines are working here, including new ones with functionality that has significantly expanded the possibilities for manufacturing import-substituting spare parts.

“The program of import substitution on the basis of our own production is being performed by the Department for the preparation and implementation of repairs (DPIR). The divisions of the nuclear power plant form a database of spare parts that will soon need to be replaced. During the repair campaign, the specialists of the design team measure the details and develop drawings. After the design documentation passes the examination and is agreed with the head design organizations, the metal is purchased and, on the basis of mechanical repair shops, they begin high-precision manufacturing of the necessary parts from metal, paronite, cardboard, rubber, graflex and other materials,” said the head of the DPIR Alexey Eremeenko.

By the end of 2023, it is planned to additionally put into operation a new section at the Rostov NPP - a thermal one, which will also allow annealing, normalization and hardening of metal parts right at the nuclear power plant site. This will not only make it possible to carry out a full cycle of manufacturing parts for equipment repair without sending it for processing to other enterprises, but will also remove dependence on foreign suppliers.

Today, the Russian industry, including the nuclear power industry, is faced with the goal of providing technological sovereignty and transition to the latest technologies as soon as possible. The state directs significant resources to the accelerated development of the domestic research, infrastructure, scientific and technological base. The introduction of innovations, the policy of import independence and import substitution allows Rosatom, Rosenergoatom to occupy new market niches, increasing the competitiveness of the nuclear industry and the entire Russian industry as a whole.

The Rostov NPP is a branch of Rosenergoatom (part of the largest division of the State Corporation Rosatom, Electric Power). The enterprise is located on the bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir, 13.5 km from the city of Volgodonsk. The nuclear power plant operates four power units with nuclear reactors of the PWR-1000 type. Daily power generation by each power unit is about 25 million kWh.

The share of nuclear generation in the structure of power production in the Rostov region is more than 70%, the United Energy System (UES) of the South - about 30%. The energy system of the South of Russia includes the regional energy systems of the Southern and North Caucasian Federal Districts, located on the territory of nine republics, Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan Regions with a total population of more than 27 million people.

A meeting on digitalization of NPP construction processes has been held in Moscow office of ASE JSC (a part of ROSATOM’s Engineering Division). Its main topic was import substitution and use of own digital developments for NPP design and construction, as well as for optimization of internal processes in the Engineering Division.
The meeting was attended by Alexander Lokshin, First Deputy Director General for Nuclear Energy of ROSATOM, President of ASE JSC, Ekaterina Solntseva, ROSATOM’s Director for Digitalization, Evgeny Abakumov, ROSATOM’s IT Director, managers of NPP construction projects and business functions of the Engineering Division.
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Olga Tostunova, Vice President for Digitalization and IT of ASE JSC, noted in her speech that smooth operation of the Division under sanctions had been ensured: “Equipment pool for NPP was created, operation of services was ensured so that the measures introduced did not go unnoticed for many people. In 2022, the process of import substitution for work places will be continued - more than three thousand employees will transfer to domestic office software. For achievement of our goals of contractual obligations fulfillment as regards the digital field and enhancement of internal efficiency owing to use of digital solutions, import substitution is the reality: nowadays digital tools are becoming our production tools.”
For the time being, import substitution in the Engineering Division has been completed as regards 2D-design; by 2023, software for 3D-design will be substituted. In addition, our own digital product Multi-D Project is currently implemented at the site of Kursk-2 NPP. It allows automatic issue of weekly and daily tasks directly to construction brigades and work performance monitoring.
By the end of 2023, it is planned to complete substitution of imported engineering data management systems. About 95% of foreign software will be replaced with domestic analogs already by 2025. The most long-term horizon of three years is related to transfer to a completely import-independent enterprise management system (ERP).
“Sanctions by foreign suppliers of software have not stopped the work on NPP design and construction, moreover, they have sped up import substitution processes in the Engineering Division. The company has a general understanding of what to do in the current situation, how long the transfer to import-independent software will last, how complicated it will be and where our bottle necks are. Therefore, we will work calmly to solve the established tasks”, Alexander Lokshin summarized.

hina's reactor is based on a modernized version of the German AVR pebble-bed reactor. Hopefully it will have less issues than the AVR did. Russia is currently building the BREST lead cooled fast reactor. This is also a Generation IV reactor. wrote:

So Russia is working on more advanced nuclear reactors than China? They are still the world leader in nuclear reactor technologies.