Atomenergoprom / News

Renewable energy sources will be discussed at ATOMEXPO-2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:58:00 +0400

A round table on renewable energy sources (RES) will be organized by OJSC Atomenergomash within the framework of International Forum ATOMEXPO 2012. The objectives of the round table will include discussions of business models approaches to renewable energy sources in Russia and abroad, evaluating the degree of their attractiveness for large corporations and financial institutions, taking into account applied practices an experience gained by international companies in developing RES projects with Russian participants.

The round table will include the plenary part and three theme blocks. The plenary part will be dedicated to the role and support of the State, creation of RES legislation base. Among the speakers are invited: Valentin Mezhevich, first Deputy of the Economic Policy Committee of the Council of Federation, Igor Bryzgunov, President of RAWI, and Anatoly Kopylov, Senior Consultant of AF-Mercados EMI.

The first theme block is dedicated to the review of RES strategies of the major international and Russian electric power producers. It is expected that the following representatives of such companies as Roland Berger (Hans Joachim Kopp, Partner), Fortum (Risto Penttinen, Vice President of Fortum Power and Heat Oy) and OJSC Lukoil (Vassily Zubakin, Deputy Head of the Main Energy Administration) will participate as speakers.

The second theme block is dedicated to technological strategies of companies – vendors in the sphere of RES, and includes a presentation by Ivan Borisov, Director for Development and Restructuring of the State Corporation Rosatom, as well as representatives of Alstom (Andrey Lavrinenko, Vice President of the Global sales chain Alstom Power), Renova (Igor Akhmerov, CEO of Avelar Energy), АВВ (Mikhail Akim, Director for Strategic Development, ABB Russia).

The theme block “Investment approaches in RES segment” is dedicated to the issues of financing RES projects in Russia. This block will include reports of the representative of OJSC ROSNANO (Alexander Kondrashov, Managing Director), and Sberbank EnergoDevelopment (Vassily Usievich, CEO).

The event will start on June 4 at 10:00.

The annual Forum of ATOMEXPO is organized by the State Corporation Rosatom and its participants traditionally include leading international organizations and nuclear industry companies. In 2011 delegates from 51 countries of the world took part in the Forum. ATOMEXPO-2012 will be held in Moscow, in Gostiny Dvor from June 4 to 6. The central topic of the forum will be “Global nuclear energy: a year after Fukushima”.

A specialized exhibition of enterprises of the nuclear industry and related industries will be held within the framework of ATOMEXPO 2012 Forum. The participants of the exhibition will include Russian and international nuclear industry enterprises; suppliers of equipment, components and services for the industry; construction companies; IT and consulting firms; specialized mass media.

Press-service of JSC Atomexpo

Czech company ARAKO finished delivery of valve fittings for NPP Belojarskaya

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:12:00 +0400

Czech company ARAKO finished the delivery of valve fittings for NPP Belojarskaja. Based on a contract with Russian corporation Atomenergomash, ARAKO supplied 470 check and shut-off valves with total weight of 5840 kilogrammes.

This supply is a continuation of a long-term cooperation with Russian nuclear industry. Equipment manufactured by the company ARAKO are now supplied also to NPPs Rostovskaya, Smolenskaya and Novovoronezskaya, which are under contruction at the moment.

Czech-Russian cooperation in nuclear industry has a long-lasting tradition based on experience of Czech firms with VVER technology. This cooperation is significantly strenghtened by the joint offer of Czech-Russian consortiumof ŠKODA JS, Atomstroyexport and OKB Gidropress for the completion of NPP Temelín. Precisely thanks to this experience with Russian technologies offers Consortium MIR.1200 minimum level of 70% localisation of supplies.

The interest of ARAKO to take part in the completion of NPP Temelín was confirmed already in October last year when, together with 14 other Czech companies, the firm signed a memorandum of understanding with Consortium MIR.1200. General Director of ARAKO Rovshan Abbasov added: “Our company has long-lasting experience with supplies for nuclear industry. Orientation towards VVER technology is therefore a strategic choice for us and guaranteess long-term development of the company. That is also why the partnership with Consortium MIR.1200 brings a big opportunity for further orders, should the Consortium win in the tender for NPP Temelín completion.“

The company ARAKO is a major Czech producer of industrial fittings for nuclear energy, heating sector, chemical, oil and gas industry. They started their participation in Russian nuclear projects more than fourty years ago and during that time they supplied industrial valves to 23 NPPs constructed by state corporation ROSATOM in eight countries of the world. Only in the last three years they supplied equipment worth a total value of 857,9 million CZK.

Regarding the partnership with ARAKO, executive vice-president of Rusatom Overseas Ing. Leoš Tomíček said: „ Successful cooperation with companies like ARAKO confirms our long-term interest to engage Czech companies into our suppliers chain. Currently, Rosatom is building 28 nuclear units in nine countries of the world and we therefore need quality and reliable suppliers. Czech firms are in that respect our first choice.“

Media-centre of Atomenergomash

An agreement on the cooperation in the importation to Russia of irradiated nuclear fuel of research reactors of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been signed

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:01:00 +0400

On the 15^th of May, 2012 in Tashkent a signing ceremony was held for the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan concerning the cooperation in the importation to the Russian Federation of irradiated nuclear fuel of research reactors.

On the Russian side the agreement was signed by Deputy Director General for International Cooperation of ROSATOM Nikolay Spasskiy and on the Uzbekistani side the signatory was Bakhtier Gulyamov, Head of the State Inspection on Oversight of Safe Conduct of Work in Industry, Mining And Domestic Sectors of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The signing ceremony was attended by Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the Russian Federation Vladimir Tyurdenev.

The parties consider the signing of the Agreement as a joint contribution to the strengthening of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime.

Communications Department of ROSATOM

A construction control panel meeting was held on the site of Baltic NPP

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:15:00 +0400

Alexander Palamarchuk, Deputy Director General of Rosenergoatom and Director of the newly established branch Facility Construction Management, took part in the work of the monthly meeting of the construction control panel for power units 1 and 2 of Baltic NPP which was held on the site.

“Baltic nuclear power plant is a strategically important facility both for the region and Russia as a whole. First impressions of the construction site visit are good. There is no doubt about the fact that high-level professionals have gathered here and an expert construction management has been established. The positive movement forward is obvious,” Alexander Palamarchuk said in his opening remarks. He also emphasized that the success of construction was owing to the well-aligned work that provided a foundation for successful meeting the 2012 targets.

The construction control panel meeting was attended by Yevgeny Vlasenko, Director of Rosenergoatom’s branch Directorate for Baltic NPP under Construction; Vyacheslav Makhonin, First Deputy Director of NIAEP and Director of its Baltic Branch; Vladimir Belov, First Deputy Director for Technical Issues of NIAEP and Manager of Baltic and Belarus NPPs Construction Projects; representatives of the architect general SPb AEP and major contractors.

The meeting participants reviewed the power unit 1 construction progress, discussed the progress in fulfilling the construction and installation work plan of the second quarter of the year, and works planned in the current year. “The main construction constituent is people who work on the construction site, specialists in building trades. Therefore, the main task for the general contractor is still the build-up of the staff number and more stringent control over observance of the safety requirements, including the construction supervision,” Yevgeny Vlasenko, Director of the Directorate for Baltic NPP under Construction, said.

He noted that this year is rich with events but still the major event will be the delivery and installation of the core melt trap at unit 1 of the plant under construction. The core melt trap is located directly under the reactor pressure vessel and represents a cone-shaped metal structure of more than 700 tons in weight. According to the existing construction plans of Baltic NPP, the core melt trap installation is planned to start in November this year.

At the present time, the reinforcement bars are installed and concreting is carried out at the foundation of the first reactor’s building. A total area of the building foundation plate is 2,114 square meters. By date, the builders have poured 550 square meters of the area, or 1,100 cubic meters of concrete. The railway construction continues and the motor road No. 1 is ready for acceptance.

Public Information Center of Directorate for Baltic NPP under Construction

Installation of the first reactor containment dome completed at Novovoronezh II

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:39:00 +0400

On the construction site of Novovoronezh NPP Phase Two (architect general and prime contractor is Atomenergoproekt Moscow) the installation of metal structures of the inner containment at the first reactor building had been completed.

The work completion gives start to the installation of the critical reactor island equipment, i.e. reactor pressure vessel, steam generators, and main circulation pipeline.

The inner containment of the reactor building the dome being a part of is the major component of the confining and protection system. The double-wall containment of the reactor building prevents radioactivity exit to the environment and serves as a physical protection feature against natural and man-induced external impacts, including earthquakes, tornadoes, and crash of a heavy aircraft.

Victor Suchkov, the Deputy Director General and Director for Capital Projects of Rosenergoatom, congratulated the team of Atomenergoproekt with the successful completion of installation of the inner containment dome. At a meeting of the Novovoronezh II construction control panel held on May 12, he emphasized: “The closing of the first power unit containment is a high-profile event, which has become the result of a long and tense work of the entire team.”

During a month welding activities will be carried out at the dome. Then, finishing of inner volumes of the containment important for installation of the reactor pressure vessel will start.

Press Service of Atomenergoproekt

TENEX held public hearings of the Company’s 2011 annual public report

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:09:00 +0400

On April 25, 2012 in compliance with the corporate regulations in the field of the Company’s Public reporting system the JSC Techsnabexport (TENEX) headquarters hosted public consultations on the Company’s 2011 draft annual public report on the results of the Company’s activities in 2011.

The discussions were opened by TENEX Director General Alexey Grigoriev who noted that the Company’s key achievement in 2011 was a substantial growth of the long-term export contracts’ portfolio that has increased 26% as compared to 2010 and has exceeded $25 billion. “It should be noted that TENEX has succeeded in expanding its portfolio of contracts even in the most complicated conditions that emerged on the world market of nuclear fuel cycle products and services following the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant,” - the Company’s head stressed. He also informed the meeting participants that in the year under review TENEX has prolonged two previously signed contracts and concluded 11 new contracts for uranium products deliveries, including two contracts with the Japanese utilities.

TENEX’s head also told about Company’s plans for the current year. According to the Director General, this year TENEX will focus on development of the infrastructure projects such as creating new logistics centers in North East (Ust-Luga seaport) and Far East of Russia. A pilot shipment of uranium products from Vostochny seaport in Primorye Territory is scheduled for the 3rd quarter of 2012.

The Chairman of TENEX’s Commission on Public reporting, Deputy Director General Valery Govorukhin spoke on the forms of cooperation with stakeholders in the process of report preparation, and on how their recommendations were taken into account in the annual report. Director of Department of Strategic Communications Alexander Pavlov reported on the regulatory basis of the Public reporting system, created at TENEX, and institutional measures taken in the field of public reporting.

The public hearings were attended by representatives of Rosatom State Corporation, JSC TVEL, JSC Urals Electrochemical Integrated Plant (UECP), JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ), JSC International Uranium Enrichment Center (IUEC), TENEX’s overseas sales subsidiary TENEX-Japan Co., Ltd. and also Areva, Westinghouse, Itochu, Mitsui, NAC International, Federal Service for Technological, Ecological and Nuclear Supervision, Federal Service for Technological and Export Control, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (ex Moscow Institute of Physical Engineering), environmental and non-governmental organizations and mass media.

TENEX Press Service

ROSATOM got the IT-LEADER Award

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:20:00 +0400

ROSATOM was given the 2012 IT-LEADER Award in the nomination “Energy Industry Companies.”

The national awards IT-LEADER has been given annually since 2002 and today it is the only award of the information technologies industry in Russia. The organizing committee includes the Association of Managers of Russia, CROC company, magazines Itogi, Intelligent Enterprise, CIO: Chief Information Officer. The independent observer is KPMG. The award advisory board includes Club 4CIO.Ru, St. Petersburg Club of IT-Directors - SPb CIO Club, Urals Club of ACS Professionals.

A list of nominees is compiled based on the mass media monitoring data. Only entities which implemented most significant and large-scale projects are put on the list. With this, not only company’s efficiency growth is assessed but also a contribution to the development of IT industry; therefore, the publicity of projects is an important screening criterion. According to Vladimir Pasynkov, Director of the Information Technologies Department of ROSATOM, “the IT-projects are part of the program of transformation of the corporate IT-platform we have implemented since 2009. As of the end of 2011, more than 46,000 of our employees were using IT-systems. We have created the common industry electronic document management system which encompasses 24 ROSATOM’s enterprises; SAP-based ERP-systems have been deployed in 6 largest enterprises and 1С ERP in 37 enterprises; SAP SRM-based uniform industry-wide procurement system (over 200 enterprises), unified data transmission system, information security system etc. have been implemented. These novelties are not only an important step in the corporation’s development but also an opportunity to substantially reduce costs. For example, the electronic document management only in 2011 saved RUB172 million for our central office.”

Communications Department of ROSATOM

VP of Rusatom Overseas Ivo Kouklнk spoke at the Slovak Energy Congress ENKO

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:30:00 +0400

Vice-president of the company Rusatom Overseas Ivo Kouklík spoke today at the 9th Slovak Energy Congress ENKO 2012, which took place in Bratislava.

The topic of his presentation was the involvement of Czech and Slovak companies in NPP construction projects realised by the State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM.

Ivo Kouklík also spoke about the state tender for completion of NPP Temelín, in which competes the Czech-Russian consortium MIR.1200. The consortium consists of Czech company ŠKODA JS, which is its leader, and Russian companies Atomstroyexport and OKB Gidropress, which are daughter companies of ROSATOM.

The advantage of Czech and Slovak firms is their long-lasting experience with VVER technology, on which is based the offer of consortium MIR.1200 in the tender for completion of NPP Temelin. „Czech and Slovak industry has vast experience not only with supplies for the construction of NPPs, but it also has long-term practice in the area of engineering. ŠKODA JS is one of the leading firms with experience in construction and servicing of NPPs worldwide and is therefore a natural leader of Consortium MIR.1200 that is bidding for the completion of Temelin NPP“, said Kouklík.

Ivo Kouklík also stressed the potential for Czech firms to get involved in supplies for foreign projects of Rosatom. From 2008 to 2011, Rosatom registers deliveries from the Czech Republic worth of approximately 2,8 billion CZK. On top of that, Czech companies currently implement contracts for Russian nuclear industry totalling more than 1.6 billion CZK. Altogether, until 2030 Rosatom plans the purchase of equipment and services for constructed NPPs worth more than 300 billion USD, which represents an enormous potential for Czech and Slovak nuclear industry.

One of the companies, which is involved in supplies for the projects of Rosatom for a long time, is Slovak firm SES Tlmaиe. Between 2009 and 2011 they supplied goods worth 20,4 million EUR to the Russian market. Ing. Gabriel Sirotnak, Marketing Director of SES Tlmace said: „Our company continuously provides supplies for VVER nuclear technology since 1980s. Besides Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Poland and Russia we have also delivered our products for Czech NPPs Temelin and Dukovany and for Slovak NPPs Mochovce and Jaslovske Bohunice. The supply for NPP Temelin and also for other projects of Rosatom globally is therefore a big opportunity for us“.

Press-service of Rusatom Overseas

Director of NIAEP Valery Limarenko is paying a working visit to NPP Kudankulam site (India)

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:06:00 +0400

On April 18-20, 2012 Director of NIAEP, management company of Atomstroyexport, Valery Limarenko is on the working visit to NPP Kudankulam site (India).

During the visit the planned events include the negotiations with the management of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, Ltd. (NPCIL) on promotion of projects of Units 1-4 of NPP Kudankulam, meeting with the team of Atomstroyexport (ASE) on the plant construction site, walkdown of the plant’s Phase One site together with the NPCIL management, and a visit to the plant’s Phase Two site.

Under the intergovernmental agreement, ASE is building Phase One of NPP Kudankulam in the Indian state Tamil Nadu. In September 2011 on the Kudankulam site main programs of the “hot runs” phase were completed and the power unit was put in the cooldown mode followed by moving to the phase of the second equipment inspection. However, in October 2011, the Russian personnel were barred out the site due to protests of the local residents and all startup and adjustment operations were terminated. They were resumed on March 20, 2012.

“We are glad that the Government of Tamil Nadu State has decided to resume construction of NPP Kudankulam and the work has been underway again on the site since March 20, Valery Limarenko commented. “Two power units of NPP Kudankulam of 1,000 MW capacity each are called for to substantially improve the energy situation in the south of India, which, while developing fast in recent years, is nearly gasping because of an acute shortage of electricity. As for us, NPP Kudankulam is the largest project of the Russian-Hindu economic cooperation and the largest NPP in India. The future exports of Russian power technology depend greatly on success of this project.

V. Limarenko also noted that NPP Kudankulam power units would feature an unprecedented level of nuclear and radiation safety, which fully meets post-Fukushima requirements. The project feature of principle is that the traditional combined active safety systems are supplemented by a number of engineering solutions based on passive principles, which move this design closer to reactor installations of Generation IV. In particular, NPP Kudankulam design includes a core melt trap and a system for passive heat removal from the reactor installation. In addition, the plant operational safety is ensured by several safety barriers and multiple redundancy of safety trains.

At the present time, the full evaluation of conditions of the equipment and systems, and compilation of a necessary work list and schedule are underway. The ultimate goal of this work is to complete the stage of the second equipment inspection and obtain a fuel loading permit from AERB, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India.

Public Relations and Information Policy Department of HIAEP

A delegation of the U.S. Department of Energy visited Beloyarsk NPP

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:37:00 +0400

On the 11th of April, 2012 a delegation of the U.S. Department of Energy visited Beloyarsk NPP.

The 13-member delegation included Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Peter Bruce Lions, NNSA’s Assistant Deputy Administrator for fissile materials disposition Peter Hall Hanlon, as well as a team of managers and specialists of the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The delegation toured to the operating power unit with BN-600 reactor and construction site of BN-800 unit. During a meeting with Beloyarsk NPP management and the Directorate of Beloyarsk II under Construction the guests were briefed on technical and economic achievements of operation of BN-600 and progress in construction of BN-800 unit.

The representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy were interested in organization of the safe operation of fast neutron reactors. They asked many questions concerning material studies of structural materials, tests of various types of fuel in fast neutron reactors, as well as prospects of the international cooperation in this sphere.

The delegation members showed a great interest in further development paths of fast neutron reactors in Russia and activities to build the closed nuclear fuel cycle. Peter Lions, the head of the U.S. delegation, noted that Russia had an extremely important experience in operation of fast reactors. One of main goals of our visit was also the strive to study a possibility of cooperation between our countries in the field of the civil nuclear power, he added.

Public Information Center of Beloyarsk NPP