Background

Tritium from the NPP enters into environment with liquid effluents and gaseous releases. According to operational experience of Pressurized light-water reactors the release rates of tritium per 1000 MW electrical power are about 3.3E13 Bq/a via the liquid effluent. The total liquid effluent will return together with the cooling water to the water body at the down stream site, and therefore the cooling water of a NPP has to be monitored for tritium.

Also, for monitoring of gaseous releases, equipment for tritium and carbon-14 sample taking from airborne releases would be required. This equipment was purposed for the above radionuclide sample taking from the NPP ventilation stacks.

Objectives

Purpose of the given supply was to provide the End User Kola NPP– the reference NPP – with one set of Liquid Scintillation Counter with suitable consumables - "tritium measurement equipment" - for analysing of the tritium contents in cooling water of ponds in the vicinity of the NPP and with two sets tritium and carbon-14 sample taking equipment for airborne release estimations of NPP (one set per each ventilation stack). The Kola NPP functioned as a reference plant, five identical set of “tritium measurement equipment” (only for monitoring of tritium contents in water environments) were delivered at five other Russian NPP (Balakovo, Bilibino, Kursk, Novovoronezh, Rostov).

Objectives of the project for the reference NPP:

• elaboration of the equipment specification
• elaboration of the manuals and of a concept for the assessment of tritium measuring results
• equipment procurement, transport to the reference NPP
• providing the relevant documentation (equipment specifications, commissioning programs and manuals)
• supervision of commissioning of equipment at the reference NPP

Within these objectives also the technology/ know-how transfer was included, so that the end-users would be able to install, start-up, operate, adjust and maintain the equipment at site.

Project Results

For this contract the beneficiary was ROSENERGOATOM, end-user was KOLA NPP (and 5 other NPPs - Balakovo, Bilibino, Kursk, Novovoronezh, Rostov) and the procurement agent was ITALTREND.

Equipment supplied:

1. Tritium Measurement Equipment (Low level liquid scintillation counter, IBM compatible PC and suitable to the liquid scintillation counter, sample preparation unit for tritium analysis)
2. Tritium and C14 Sample Taking Equipment for Airborne Releases (only for Kola NPP).

The realisation the project was planned in 6 phases:

• elaboration of the detailed equipment specification in agreement with the beneficiary
• equipment procurement
• elaboration of the manuals and the equipment documentation
• workshop test of the equipment
• transport of the equipment
• installation and commissioning of one set of “tritium measurement equipment” at the reference NPP.

Material and equipment, their engineering and design, manufacture and tests had to meet the requirements and criteria of the Russian norms and standards, as well as Western norms and standards applicable in Russia.
All equipment was manufactured, inspected and tested according to the Quality Assurance Program. The Supplier guaranteed compliance of delivered equipment with the technical requirements and characteristics given in the Technical Specification. During shop tests the supplier demonstrated to the Acceptance Commission that the equipment met the requirements of Technical Specification.

Factory tests covered the following:

• visual inspection to confirm absence of defects, availability of adequate marking, etc.;
• preliminary calibration;
• equipment functioning in full scope;
• stability to frequency and supply voltage fluctuations;
• operability under boundary admissible values of temperature and relative humidity.

All items of delivery were subject to an entrance quality control performed by the end user staff.

The Supplier organized also a training program (prepared by the Supplier and agreed with the reference NPP) for the Liquid Scintillation Counter and for the Sample Taking Equipment for Airborne Releases, and issued certificates to participants that confirmed their right to operate, maintain and repair the supplied equipment.

The Supplier guaranteed the quality and the reliability of the equipment over a period of one year counting from the day of installation, commissioning and use of the equipment. After the warranty period the spare parts and consumables of Liquid Scintillation Counter and Tritium Sample Taking Equipment were available by the Supplier for ten years.
The kick-off meeting at Kola NPP was held in 6-7.04.2000.

The project description and technical specification had been drafted in 1997 by KLE, the on Site Assistance Consultant at Kola NPP. During the process of Technical Specification finalisation, the contract of KLE ended and a new On site Assistance Consultant (TVONS) was contracted.

Technical Specification dated 15 January 2002, and acceptance of technical specifications took place on 13.02.2002. Tender dossier approval by EC was received on the 16.05.2002, and tender evaluation session was in Olkiluoto on 26-29.08.2002. Only one tender was received, and EC informed on 11.03.2003 that the EC had endorsed and sent the contracts to Russian NPP for signature. The supplier signed the contract on 30.04.2003.

TVONS received the factory acceptance test (FAT) results on 04.07.2003.

REA approved on 17.07.2003 the direct deliveries of equipment to the 6 NPP. On 31.03.2004 the contractor Pribori informed that all equipments were delivered to Moscow and deliveries to the 6 NPP were expected in April 2004.

The equipment was received at Kola NPP on 15.04.2004.