Core catcher made journey from Russia via Black Sea and Danube River
The first large nuclear island system has been delivered for Unit 1 of the Paks II nuclear power station project in central Hungary, construction of which is expected to start early next year.
Project Developer Paks II Ltd said in a statement that the core catcher components were delivered via the Black Sea and the Danube River from Russia on 1 August.
“The Paks II project has reached a new milestone with the arrival of one of the most important long-lead items,” said Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó.
The core catcher – also known as a core melt localisation device or core trap – is designed to catch the molten core material, or corium, of a nuclear reactor in the event of a nuclear meltdown and to prevent it from escaping the containment.
The device is among the largest in a nuclear reactor system, with the steel casing weighing about 170 tonnes and having a height and diameter around six metres.
The total weight of an installed core catcher device under the reactor core exceeds 700 tonnes and has a diameter of about 11 metres and a height of 15 metres.
Atomstroyesxport, the export wing of Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, said it delivered the core catcher components from a factory in Volgodonsk on the Volga River in southern Russia. The transporting vessels covered a total of 3,200 km in 48 days, a statement said.
Russia is supplying two Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units for Paks II, at the existing Paks nuclear site, near the town of Paks in central Hungary.
There are already four earlier-generation Russia supplied VVER units at the site. In 2023 they supplied 48.8% of the country’s electricity production, according to International Atomic Energy Agency data.
Preparatory works including pit excavations and the construction of a stabilisation groundwater cutoff wall began at Paks II in the summer of 2023.
Gergely Jákli, chief executive of Paks II, was quoted as saying that the 2.7 km long cutoff wall has been completed and work has begun on soil stabilisation and excavations to bring the pit in line with design requirements.
The main construction licence for Paks 2 was issued by the Hungarian regulator in August 2022.
However, first concrete pouring, traditionally considered the official start of nuclear island construction, has not yet been announced. Earlier reports have said it is scheduled for early 2025.
The core catcher made the journey from Russia by barge via the Black Sea and the Danube River. Courtesy Paks II.
