Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant to be constructed by Rosatom in Egypt is planned to be similar to Russia’s Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant having an installed capacity of 4,200 MWe and supplying 50 percent of the energy consumed in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region.
VVER-1200 Reactor
Egypt Today took a tour in the plant consisting of three RBMK-1000 reactors and a third-generation VVER-1200 reactor, which was introduced in full capacity in March 2018. A similar reactor is being constructed in Egypt at present within the Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant project.
The third-generation VVER-1200 reactor is characterized by a unique mix of active (external) and passive (internal) safety systems. Head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Second Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant Construction Directorate Nikolai Kashin said that the reactor had been tested dozens of times without any problems arising.
The third-generation VVER-1200 reactor generates 28 million kWh, and is covered with concrete whose thickness is 120 cm and weight is 350 tons. A similar reactor will be introduced in the Leningrad plant 2021. Kashin asserted that the reactor includes all the safety measures that make the re-occurrence of a disaster like Fukushima accident – caused by a tsunami – a zero possibility.
Kashin explained that the reactor contains five diesel-powered generators that supply energy to the equipment in case of accidents. The reactors are built upon a concrete base that is earthquake resistant and designed to sustain climate and weather changes as they cannot be affected by rain, wind, or tornados.
The size of the reactor is equivalent to a five-storey building. The external side of the dome is made of two concrete insulating layers whose thickness is one meter to inhibit any leakage. The reactors currently built by Russia can sustain a crash by Boeing 707.
For the nuclear fuel, the official said it is supplied once per annum to the plant by Rosatom and stored in specific temperatures. The official affirmed that the nuclear fuel to supplied to Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant will have the same standards as the one used in Leningrad.
Egypt Today
