Specifics of VVER Reactor Facility
Specifics of VVER Reactor Facility
Course:
Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor
The third part of the course has the following terminal training objectives: first, to
explain the VVER-1200 reactor facility design, and second, to identify the features
of Modern Russian designed NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor. The corresponding
enabling training objectives are:
t o identify the principle of The following topics are covered in this part of the course:
electricity production at a
nuclear power plant with 1. I ntroduction to VVER technology, its advantages and
VVER-1200; disadvantages;
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
VVER scheme Two coolant cycles of VVER are shown in Figure 3.1.3.
The first one maintains the circulation of coolant of the
primary circuit. There is the main circulation pump (in some
countries it might be called the primary circuit pump or
reactor coolant pump). It takes the water and pumps it to
the reactor. This coolant comes through the reactor core,
heats up, and after that goes to the steam generator, where
the heat is transferred to the coolant of the secondary
circuit. There is no direct connection between the coolant
of the primary circuit and the coolant of the secondary
circuit: they are connected through the walls of pipes
of the steam generator. This means the primary circuit
coolant can be radioactive—as there is some radiation in
the reactor core. But the coolant of the secondary circuit
is non-radioactive, because it does not come into direct
contact with the coolant of the primary circuit.
Returning to the coolant of the primary circuit: after
the heat is transferred in the steam generator to the
secondary circuit, this coolant comes through the main
circulation pump and is pumped again to the reactor
core. It is a closed cycle that does not require adding or
removing coolant.
It is possible to have different operation modes, such as
startup or shutdown of the plant, during which an area
where the coolant of primary circuit can boil should be
available. The boiling of coolant inside the reactor core is
Figure 3.1.3. VVER scheme. highly dangerous and cannot be allowed. For this reason,
there is a special piece of equipment called pressurizer. It
is a huge tank; the coolant of the primary circuit is in
one part of it and steam is in another. This is the place
where the boiling process of the primary circuit coolant
could be seen all the time.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
The steam generator is the place where the heat the primary circuit and the secondary circuit, so
of the primary circuit coolant is transferred to the secondary circuit is non-radioactive. Which
the secondary circuit coolant. The coolant of the means that the secondary circuit is operated
secondary circuit is pumped by the feedwater according to different rules ensuring radiation
pump. The cold coolant is pumped into the steam protection compared to the primary circuit. In
generator and boils inside. The steam is collected nuclear facility or NPPs, radiation control and
in the steam collector and goes to the steam turbine. radiation monitoring are ensured on the steam
The steam rotates the steam turbine, which has lines and in the secondary circuit: there are
an electric generator connected to it, resulting in sensors which show signals in the main control
the generation of electrical power. The steam room, and the operator can see the radiation
becomes a mixture of steam and water after going parameters of the coolant in the secondary
through the turbine; it is very difficult to ensure circuit. During the operation, these data are
the pumping of this mixture. That is why it needs taken into account all the time.
to be cooled down—a condenser is used for this
purpose. It is a huge heat exchanger with a supply
of cold water—for example from a cooling pond, Sources of the secondary
cooling towers, sea, or lake. circuit coolant
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
3.2. Reactor technical specifications Table 3.2.1 shows preliminary technical specifications
of a VVER plant (the data are taken from several
databases for different designs of NNPs). A VVER-
type reactor is a pressurized water reactor (PWR), which
Preliminary technical specifications means, first, the primary circuit is a high pressurized
closed loop. The average pressure for VVER facilities is
Description Value and unit about 15.7 to 16.2 megapascals (MPa). And second, the
coolant used for PWRs is water. VVER is a water-cooled
Reactor Pressurized water reactor water-moderated energy reactor, which means that
the moderator in the reactor is water.
Installed capacity
1,190-1,270 MW Installed capacity of an NPP with VVER 1200 unit is gen-
for AES-2006 unit erally around 1,200 MW. Depending on size and other
conditions, it can range from 1,190 to 1,270 MW. The
Net/gross electric power 1,150/1,200 MW
difference between net and gross electric power is about
Rated thermal power 50 MW; in some cases it can be increased to 100 MW.
3,200 MW It is the power required for NPP operation in different
of the reactor modes. The generator produces 1,200 MW and some of
them are spent for NPP operation.
Capacity factor 92%
Thermal efficiency 35.9% The thermal power of the reactor in general is 3,200
MW. Depending on the I&C (instrumentation and con-
Fuel/max burnup UO2 / 70 MWd/kgU trol) system, several other parameters of the design,
and the rules of the country in which the NPP is com-
Annual energy production 9 TWh missioned, these specifications can vary.
slow-speed turbine
Turbine speed The capacity factor is 92%. Based on the implementa-
(1,500 rpm)
tion experience, the capacity factor of about 85-87% is
achieved for VVER-1000. Modern Russian designed NPP
Table 3.2.1. Preliminary technical specifications of VVER.
with VVER 1200 power reactor can be operated with re-
Source: http://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsalstom-to-supply-turbine-
fueling period of 1-1,5 years (up to 2 years), which al-
for-finlands-hanhikivi-1-npp-4974318, http://www.fennovoima.fi/userData/
lows an increase of the capacity factor from the current
fennovoima/doc/yva/yva2013/EIAreport2014.pdf, WANO data base.
85-87% up to 92-93%.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Thermal efficiency varies around 35.9%. During the com- Flow sheet of VVER
missioning, this parameter is adjusted depending on
the parameters of pooling water. If the water is real-
ly cold—like in the northern countries such as Russia
and Finland—this parameter can be higher. If the NPP
is constructed in countries with warm climate like Ban-
gladesh, Jordan, Egypt, or Turkey, this parameter can be
lower. The maximum possible cooldown of the water in
the condenser has to be ensured, which might present
a possibility to increase thermal efficiency of the plant.
Fuel burnup is a parameter used to control the efficiency
of burning fresh fuel. Fresh fuel is received on site of NPP
in special fuel assemblies. During the operation, some
part of this fuel is burned. For the first VVERs, fuel bur-
nup reached only 25 megawatt-days per kg of uranium
(MWd/kgU). In modern designs, this parameter reaches
70 MWd/kgU. This result shows high efficiency of using
the fuel, and the evolution of using the fuel year to year.
Annual energy production for one unit can be about 9
terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year. That is a
lot of power. To compare, 300 wagons of coal need to
be burned every day for 330 days to receive a similar Figure 3.2.1. Flow sheet of VVER.
amount of energy in electricity grid.
The last parameter in Table 3.2.1 is the speed of turbine Figure 3.2.1 presents a flow sheet of a VVER reactor.
used for NPP with VVER. It can be a low-speed turbine There is a reactor, a steam generator, and a coolant pump,
and high-speed turbine. For low-speed turbine, the which circulates the coolant of the primary circuit.
rotation speed is 1,500 rotations per minute (rpm), for There are two nozzles in the VVER reactor vessel: for
high-speed turbine—about 3000 rpm, which results in the inlet (“cold” leg) and outlet (“hot” leg) of coolant
50 Hz frequency in the electricity grid. This is the nor- of the primary circuit. Suction lines are connected to the
mal frequency which is used for all equipment and for reactor coolant pump. The reactor coolant pump takes
all electricity customers.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
the cold coolant from the steam generator and pumps it to the reactor for
Description Value and unit heating up. The hot coolant comes back to the steam generator, where the
heat is transferred to the secondary circuit, and goes through the suction
Coolant temperature,
298.2 ˚C line to the reactor coolant pump.
reactor inlet
The main parameters of the primary circuit are presented in Table 3.2.2.
Coolant temperature,
328.9 ˚C The inlet temperature of the cold coolant is about 300 ˚C, and the hot
reactor outlet
coolant is about 330 ˚C, which is not ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ in everyday meaning
Reactor coolant of the words. The pressure parameter of the primary circuit is important:
16.2 MPa as mentioned above, boiling in the closed loop of the primary circuit is
pressure
prohibited. Consequently, the pressure should be very high to ensure that
Table 3.2.2. Main parameters of the primary circuit. the coolant stays in liquid state. The pressure in the primary circuit of
VVER-1200 is 16.2 MPa, which is more than 160 atmospheres (atm).
In general, VVER has four such loops as described above. In each loop,
there is one steam generator, one main circulation pump, main inlet
and outlet circulation pipelines. The loops are connected: they have one
pressurizer, and in case of occurrences when steam or coolant should be
removed from the primary circuit, one relief tank. In case of emergencies,
pressure relief valves could be opened and steam from the primary circuit
is released into this tank.
Modern Russian designed NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor has another
four hydro-accumulators. They are a passive part of the emergency core
cooling system. The volume of each tank is about 60 m3. 50 m3 are filled with
a mixture of water and boric acid. Pressurized nitrogen (60 atm) is in the
other 10 m3. These tanks are directly connected to the reactor vessel. Two
of them are connected to the top part of the reactor vessel, and the other
two—to the bottom of the reactor vessel, i.e. the level of inlet lines and
nozzles. Based on the basic design of VVER, it is not possible to make any
Figure 3.2.3. VVER Nuclear Steam Supply System. Light nozzles lower than the level of inlet nozzles of the reactor vessel. The four
Water Reactor VVER-1200/V-522. Source: Proekt AES-2006 emergency core cooling system tanks are connected directly. There are
– tekhnologia i philosophia bezopasnosti [AES-2006 Project: one-way valves on the connection line, which are activated automatically
Technology and philosophy of safety]. Jershov G.A., if pressure in the primary circuit is reduced to less than 60 atm. If in case
Atomproekt. Budapest, 2015. of emergency, there is a leakage of coolant of the primary circuit—LOCA
8
Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
(loss of coolant accident) type of leakage—the pressure in the primary circuit is dramatically reduced
very quickly. In this case, the coolant from the tanks is supplied to the reactor core automatically,
without any signals or actions by the operator (according to so-called passive principle).
During emergencies, it is possible to shut down the reactor. But the disadvantage of nuclear
energy production is that the shutdown is not immediate: the level of power of the reactor cannot
be immediately reduced to zero. When the reactor is just shut down, the nuclear chain reaction is
stopped, but residual heat is still continuously produced. To illustrate, one day after shutdown, the
level of power is 0.5% of the nominal level of power before shutdown. As mentioned above, the
thermal power of VVER-1200 is 3,200 MW. 0.5% of 3,200 MW is about 16 MW, which is a normally
generated level of power for small power plants. It means that in one day after shutdown, the residual
heat production is comparable to a low-capacity thermal power plant.
To summarize, there are four similar coolant loops with combined flow rate of approximately 86,000
m3/h (about 20-22,000 m3/h for each loop); the inlet coolant temperature is approximately 300 ˚C,
outlet—330 ˚C; the pressure is 16.2 MPa.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Figure 3.3.2 illustrates an assembled and a disassembled reactor. In the center, there is
the assembled reactor with the upper unit and the reactor top head at the top. Inside
the reactor, there is a protective tube unit. At the level of the reactor core, there is a core
barrel; core baffle and 163 fuel assemblies are inside the core barrel.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
The next topic of discussion is VVER fuel; the focus is on actor core is roughly 87 tonnes. A 5 cm × 5 cm × 2 cm box
TVS-2006. TVS-2006 is a special type of fuel designed of fuel can provide power for two families for 30 years. So,
for VVER (NPP with VVER 1200). It is based on the fuel for with 87 tonnes there is a large amount of fuel inside one
VVER-1000, which is called TVS. TVS can be translated reactor core, which produces a large amount of power.
directly from Russian as ‘the fuel assembly’.
Control rods are used to ensure stability of the reactor
TVS-2006 is assembled from the fuel pellets made from and operation on different levels of power; some of
uranium dioxide (UO2). The pellets are assembled in fuel rods them are inside the reactor core and others are on top
about 3.7 m in length, inside a tube. The tube is produced of the reactor core. The total number of control rods
from a zirconium-niobium alloy (E110, E635). 312 fuel rods which can be used for one reactor facility is 121—there
are arranged in a fuel assembly. One fuel assembly contains is no space to install more control rod drives. Sensors
approximately 500 kg of uranium dioxide in total. of in-core monitoring system are arranged in some fuel
assemblies. They measure neutron flux in different levels
The NPP with VVER 1200 reactor core contains 163 fuel of the reactor core, monitor the level of temperature and
assemblies. The total weight of uranium dioxide in the re- the level of coolant in the core.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Core criticality
Ensuring stable, controlled state of reactor operation If positive reactivity is added, chain reaction and
is paramount. But unforeseen occurrences happen the power of the reactor are increased; if negative
during the operation. For example, pumps could reactivity is added, chain reaction is reduced.
shut down unexpectedly, and as a result, the amount Processes which need compensating actions are:
of coolant in the primary circuit could be reduced. plutonium formation, the reactivity effects, fuel
So, a controlled slow-down of chain reaction and burnup, steady xenon poisoning, and other processes
controlled regulation of the amount of neutrons in in the reactor core.
the core should be possible. During such occurrences,
a lot of parameter changes happen in the core which For these purposes and to ensure the safety of the
should be compensated for. Equipment to add positive core during operations, a control and protection
or negative reactivity is needed for this purpose. system (CPS) is designed for VVER plants and for
nuclear facilities in general. Three main functions
are identified for this system. The first one is
emergency protection: in case of occurrences, the
reactor needs to be shut down immediately, or as
quickly as possible. The second function is reactor
power regulation: CPS can be used to change the level
of power, to add positive or negative reactivity. The
third function is compensation of excess reactivity. At
the startup of the reactor, there are about 87 tonnes
of uranium inside the core. The primary circuit is
closed—it is not possible to open the reactor and
add fresh fuel during the operation. A large amount
of fuel has to be put inside the reactor on the first
loading, which then operates for several years. It
means there should be an additional amount of fuel
in the core at the commissioning stage to maintain
chain reaction. Some of the control rods can be used
for that. During operation, they can be removed
Figure 3.4.2. Processes which influence core criticality, where Kef from the core, compensating for fuel burnup, adding
denoted neutron multiplication factor, and ρ denotes reactivity. positive reactivity, and sustaining chain reaction.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
The biggest and the most important component of VVER previous sections, the pressure in the primary circuit is
nuclear power plants is VVER reactor, which is discussed 16.2 MPa. In the secondary circuit, however, the pressure
in previous sections. The next one is steam generator. is lower—about 7 MPa (~70 atm).
It is a horizontal tank with two collectors, hot and cold,
On the top of the steam generator, there is a big area of
with about 10,000 pipes connecting them. The diameter of
evaporation, where a large amount of steam is produced.
the pipes is approximately 1.2-1.5 cm; the length of each The steam comes through a perforated sheet of steel,
pipe is about 10 m. The radioactive coolant of the primary where particles of water are accumulated. The steam
circuit is circulated inside these pipes. The coolant of the is collected in the steam header and is routed to the
secondary circuit is in the whole area of steam generator steam generator. Total steam production capacity of one
outside the pipes. It is much colder than the coolant of steam generator is about 1,600 t/hr. As a result, nominal
the primary circuit. The temperature of this coolant, power capacity of each steam generator is 800 MW. The
feedwater coolant, is about 225 ˚C. As mentioned in the characteristics are summarized in Table 3.5.1.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Parameter Value
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
GCNA (ГЦНА) can be directly translated from Russian contains water. Oils were used in previous designs.
as ‘main circulation pump’. In some countries, it might Considering oils present fire hazard for the operation of
be called ‘primary circuit pump’ or ‘reactor coolant the reactor, water is used now as a lubricant for the main
pump’—it is the same piece of equipment with different circulation pump and all parts of the plant.
titles. There main parameters of the GCNA-1391 pump
are presented in Table 3.5.2: pump delivery rate, pump The power consumption of each main circulation pump
head, inlet pump pressure, coolant temperature, power is approximately 6 MW. It is an electrically driven pump
consumption, and rotor speed. A new pump is installed and requires a lot of electrical power for operation. As the
for the Modern Russian designed NPP with VVER 1200 coolant density is different in hot and cold state, different
power reactor. There are different designs of the pump, amount of power is required for hot coolant pumping vs.
and modern ones have advantages. For example, there cold coolant pumping. Maximum power consumption for
is a special circuit of coolant for pump cooldown which hot coolant is about 5.2 MW, and for cold coolant—7.2 MW.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Pressurizing system
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Therefore, if the valve on the top line is opened, the cold coolant (the cold
line’s temperature is about 300 ˚C) could be sprinkled at the top of the
pressurizer. This coolant’s temperature is lower than 350 ˚C, so the process
reduces the amount of steam in the steam area and consequently, reduces
the pressure in the primary circuit.
For the purpose of increasing the temperature in the primary circuit, there
are electric heater assemblies in the pressurizer. If they are turned on, more
heat is produced, the liquid is boiled more intensively, and more steam is
produced, which presses more on the coolant. So, the pressure is increased.
This means the pressurizer can be used to control pressure in the primary
circuit during operation. Pressure can be increased or reduced depending on
particular requirements. In case of emergency, it is possible to remove some
amount of steam by opening pressure relief valves and transfer it to the
relief tank.
During startup, it is not possible to activate main circulation pumps with
normal pressure (1 atm) in the primary circuit. Additional pressure has to be
established. For this purpose, nitrogen gas is supplied to the top level of the
pressurizer during startup at 2 MPa. This helps to create the 2 MPa pressure
in the primary circuit, which is enough for startup of main circulation pumps.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
Figure 3.5.6. General view and layout of the system of primary circuit.
The system of primary circuit and its components are located in the containment.
The layout of the main equipment of the primary circuit inside the containment is presented in
Figure 3.5.6. There are four steam generators, four main circulation pumps, one pressurizer, one
relief tank, a reactor in the center, and four tanks of the emergency core cooling system. Based on
Russian experience, similar rules are prescribed for handling nuclear fuel and spent nuclear fuel
inside the reactor. Considering the dangers of handling this type of elements of the NPP, it is much
safer to keep spent fuel assemblies inside the containment. That is why in Figure 3.5.6, inside the
containment there are two spent fuel pools, which are combined into one piece of equipment.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
As mentioned in section 3.5, there is large area for evaporation of the secondary
circuit coolant in the steam generators. The main reason for these tanks to
have a large evaporation area is to arrange natural circulation in the primary
circuit for cooling down the reactor without use of circulation pumps. The
pressure in the secondary circuit is lower than in the primary circuit. The
secondary circuit coolant can be supplied to cool down the steam generator. If
natural circulation in the primary circuit is arranged, cool down of the reactor
during the residual heat removal is possible, especially during the shutdown
in case of blackout—that is, without any electricity support on site.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
The amount of heat that can be removed from the core also not possible to send operators inside the containment
due to natural circulation and the amount of coolant that just after operation—the level of radioactivity is too high.
needs to be supplied to the secondary circuit for cooldown But it is possible to send operators to the turbine building.
of the steam generators should be assessed. Calculations In the turbine building, feedwater pumps can supply cold
for VVER confirm that it is possible to arrange natural water to the secondary circuit, cool down steam generator,
circulation in the primary circuit and cool down the reactor and consequently, the reactor.
without additional supply of cold coolant to the primary
circuit during blackout. It could be done while keeping At the design stage, the possibility of replacing old
the primary circuit airtight and pressurized. Supplying steam generator with a new one during the lifetime of
coolant to the primary circuit implies access inside the NPP should be taken into account. For Russian VVER,
containment. As mentioned before, access to the steam the replacement is possible because the steam generator
generator and reactor is not possible during operation. It is is smaller in comparison to other types of PWRs.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
The last topic in the specifics of VVER facility section is reduced to minimal level. It can be less than 1%,
is the operation conditions of VVER. In usual sense of which depends on the quality of the I&C system and
the word ‘normal’, there is only one operation mode sensors inside the reactor core—the level of neutron
on nominal level of power. In actuality however, there flux can be identified and the minimal level of power
are no less than eight operation modes for VVER, as can be assessed and controlled. The k-factor is near
could be seen in Table 3.7.1. the criticality. The reactor thermal power is less than
1%. The concentration of boric acid is from 20 g/
The first condition is on-load operation. The operation
dm3 to operational, because the same conditions can
is in a steady state; the level of power in the core
is stable. K-factor equals unity (1), which means be identified during the startup of the reactor. The
the nuclear core and chain reaction are in critical temperature in the primary circuit is more than 260
state. Boric acid concentration is operational and, as ˚C (hot). And primary circuit is sealed; more than one
mentioned in section 3.4, decreases during operation control rod group is not at a lower position in the core.
from about 8 g/L to zero. The primary circuit coolant
The third condition can be identified as the hot state. It
temperature is more than 280 ˚C, which means the
means the k-factor is less than 0.99—subcriticality is
reactor and the primary circuit are hot. The primary
more than 1%. Boric acid concentration is lower than
circuit is sealed. The level of power is 5% and
everything is operating normally. 20 g/dm3, which is a shutdown concentration of boric
acid in the primary circuit coolant. Primary circuit
The second operational condition is reactor at temperature is more than 260 ˚C (hot). Primary circuit
minimum controlled power level. After having worked is sealed; and all control rods are at a lower position
at 5% of nominal level of power, the level of power in the core. It is a subcritical state, but the core is hot.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility
After that, the reactor can be cooled down to a cold state. It means subcriticality
is approximately 2% and k-factor about 0.98. Concentration of boric acid is
lower than 20 g/dm3. The temperature of the primary circuit coolant is less
than 60 ˚C (cold). The primary circuit is sealed.
Shutdown for repair condition has the same parameters, apart from the
concentration of boric acid, which is increased; as might be expected, the
primary circuit is unsealed.
During refueling condition, the coolant levels in the spent fuel pool inside the
reactor are changed to ensure that it is possible to transfer spent fuel from
the reactor core to the spent fuel tank.
After refueling, the primary circuit can be sealed and heating-up can begin.
The heating-up of the primary circuit is an interesting process. As mentioned
in section 3.5, there are electric heaters inside the pressurizer, which can be
turned on; however, it takes a lot of time to heat up the primary circuit this
way. Nitrogen can be supplied to the pressurizer to increase the pressure
in the primary circuit to 2 MPa and to turn on main circulation pumps.
One main circulation pump requires 5 or, in case of cold coolant, 7 MW of
power, which means a lot of heat is produced during the operation of main
circulation pumps. As a result, no less than three main circulation pumps
and electric heaters in the pressurizer are used during heating-up. In total,
the temperature of coolant in the primary circuit can be increased 15 ˚C per
hour. So, the transition between the cold state and hot state requires no less
than 16-17 hours.
The operation cycle of NPP requires the shutdown cooling condition to be
implemented once every 1-1,5 years depending on the type of fuel cycle
chosen for the NPP. Cooldown of the reactor is required to provide refueling,
maintenance, and other works. After that, the reactor is heated up and comes
back to operational condition.
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Fundamentals of Modern Russian designed
NPP with VVER 1200 power reactor > 3. Specifics of VVER Reactor facility