RAPP 7 calandria delivered

Monday, 22 July 2013

The calandria for unit 7 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) was recently delivered to the construction site after a 109-day journey from Mumbai.

The calandria for RAPP 7 reaches its destination (Image: NPCIL)

The 40-tonne stainless steel calandria, with a diameter of some 7.8 metres and 32mm-thick walls, was manufactured in Mumbai by M/S Godrej. The large component left the manufacturing plant on 24 March and was transported by ship to the port of Kandla in Gujarat state. It was then moved by truck to the RAPP site in neighbouring Rajasthan state, arriving on 10 July, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) reported.

The calandria forms the reactor vessel of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). Several hundred fuel channels run the length of the calandria, which will be filled with heavy water moderator.

In May 2010, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) was awarded an INR 8880 million ($150 million) contract to undertake main plant civil works of RAPP 7 and 8. HCC has constructed all six existing units at RAPP, all PHWRs of varying sizes, the first of which began operating in 1973 and the latest in March 2010.

RAPP units 7 and 8 - both indigenously-designed 700 MWe PHWRs - are scheduled to begin commercial operation in June and December 2016, respectively. Their combined 1400 MWe capacity will be connected to the Northern Electricity Grid, with 700 MWe allocated to the state of Rajasthan.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News