Background

Beloyarsk NPP is situated in Sverdlovsk region of Russia, in the town of Zarechny, approximately 60 km east of Ekaterinburg and close to the Ural mountain range. It is one of the oldest commercial nuclear power plants in Russia and started operations in 1964. The first 2 units constructed at the site were AMB100 and AMB200 prototype units, which were forerunners of the RBMK reactors. These 2 units were shut down in 1981 and 1989 respectively. Unit 3 is a 600MWe sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor (FBR) known as BN-600, which started operation in 1980. In addition to the electrical production, the unit produces district heating for the town of Zarechny. Unit 3 is the only unit to have been involved in the Tacis On-Site Assistance. A fourth Unit, also a sodium-cooled FBR (BN-800) has been under construction since 1987, but has suffered many delays, mainly due to the financial difficulties in Russia in the 1990s.

Sodium level indicators are installed in the reactor vessels and various auxiliary sodium vessels for monitoring the sodium level and, in some cases, to trip the reactor in case of decrease of the level beyond set limits. A number of the installed indicators suffered low reliability and more reliable devices were needed. It was decided to provide replacement sodium level indicators in the framework of the TACIS 1995 programme.

Objective

The objective of the project was to replace the existing sodium level indicators with new ones manufactured according to European standards.

The scope of supply included services and supplies for the design, manufacture, testing, delivery, supervision of installation and commissioning, documentation and training of End User personnel in the operation and maintenance of the equipment. The equipment to be supplied included:

• 22 sodium level sensors for the reactor vessel, primary and secondary pumps and various expansion and sodium storage tanks
• 7 spare sensors and associated equipment
• Transport containers for the sensors
• Associated electronic equipment, racks, cabinets and cables
• Tools for installation, testing and maintenance of the equipment.

Results

The contract was signed with Framatome on 30 March 1999. The equipment was delivered, installed and tested and the Provisional Acceptance Certificate was issued in May 2004. The Final Acceptance Certificate was issued in June 2005.