(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Two steam generators - each the size of a tennis court - have been installed in the country's first nuclear energy plant in Barakah the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced.
The Unit 2 steam generators (SGs) which were manufactured in South Korea took four years to complete. The SGs were shipped to Barakah where they were set in place inside the Unit 2 Reactor Containment Building (RCB). In a nuclear energy plant which uses pressurised water technology the steam generator acts as a heat exchanger where the water carrying the heat generated from the nuclear reaction is used to safely turn demineralised water into steam. This is an in-built safety feature that segregates water used in the reactor and that used in the turbine. The steam produced in the SG is then used to spin a turbine which drives a generator to produce electricity. Each of Barakah's SGs contain several tubes that safely carry heated processed water at high pressure. These tubes are made of an alloy composed of nickel chromium and iron making them strong and corrosion resistant even at high temperatures. "This is an important milestone in the continued progress and delivery of Enec's second unit which is scheduled to come online approximately one year after the first unit which will be in 2017" said Mohammed Al Hammadi CEO of Enec. "As with all of our work at Barakah I am proud to see the team continue to deliver these significant achievements with safety quality and performance as top priorities at all times." Over the next six months further piping connection work will take place to connect the SGs to the Unit 2 reactor vessel turbine generators and condenser to allow water and steam to pass in and out as required for the electricity production process. Barakah Nuclear Power Plant will eventually consist of four nuclear power generating units safely housed in two plants with a combined capacity of approximately 5600MW. Barakah Unit 1 is now more than 75 per cent complete and Unit 2 53 per cent. The construction of the overall units 1 to 4 programme is now 50 per cent complete. In 2017 Enec's first 1400MW unit is scheduled for completion. Additional units will follow at 12 monthly intervals with the fourth unit set to commence commercial operations in 2020 pending regulatory reviews and licensing.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.