December, 2019 – Framatome was awarded a contract to deliver the reactor protection system for units 1 and 2 at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II in Russia. The contract includes planning, designing, manufacturing and implementing the system.
Earlier, in May 2018, Framatome signed a memorandum of understanding with Rusatom Automated Control Systems (RASU), a company of Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation. The MoU includes, among other things, the cooperation in delivery of I&C subsystems designed by Framatome to the Russian NPP construction projects, with the potential localization of components and systems manufacturing at Rosatom’s enterprises.
“Our long-standing partnership with Rusatom Automated Control Systems continues to grow as we contribute to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II project with the highest level of excellence,” said Frédéric Lelièvre, senior executive vice president in charge of Sales, Regional Platforms and the Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Business Unit at Framatome. “Together, we are moving forward on our commitment to deliver advanced technologies for the new Russian VVER reactors currently under construction.”
The reactor protection system consists of 45 TELEPERM XS I&C cabinets and belongs to the highest safety class. This contract follows the successful implementation of Framatome’s TELEPERM XS digital I&C platform at other nuclear power plants in Russia, Novovoronezh NPP-2 Unit 1 and Leningrad NPP-2 Unit 1.
Framatome will deliver the I&C cabinets to Rusatom Automated Control Systems’ (RASU)RASU’s integration center in Moscow and provide supervisory services in the test bay and during installation and commissioning activities. The installation is scheduled for completion at the end of 2025.
“This contract is proof of the excellent worldwide reputation of Framatome’s people and I&C solutions,” said Dr. Andreas Teufel, who is responsible for Framatome’s I&C project line in Germany. “We are proud to provide these solutions as we continue to build on the strong partnership we enjoy with RASU.”
“As part of our cooperation with Framatome, we established joint project teams for installation and commissioning supervision of safety systems at Kursk NPP-2. We arranged a test bay at our integration center for testing of software and hardware packages based on Teleperm XS equipment. We already have proper technologies and methods for software verification and safety I&C testing. In addition to Kursk NPP-2, we are planning to use the same approach in other joint projects as well”, said Andrey Butko, CEO of RASU.
Construction on the first unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant II began in April 2018, followed by the second unit in April 2019. These third-generation reactors of the new Russian VVER TOI series have an output of 1,200 megawatts of electricity and are designed to operate for 60 years.
Kursk NPP II will replace the existing power units of Kursk Nuclear Power Plant after their decommissioning. The new power units will comply with all up-to-date international nuclear safety requirements.
RASU is in charge of the overall I&C development, supply and commissioning project for Kursk NPP II Units 1 and 2. The company will also deliver 330 kV gas-insulated switchgears and transformers to the plant.