Rosatom said the inner dome for Kursk 2-2 consists of a lower and an upper part with respective weights of 220 and 256 tonnes. The two components were installed separately and later welded together.
A statement Rosatom said the inner steel containment installation makes it possible to start preparations for the installation of the reactor vessel, steam generators and the main circulation pipeline. The first in a series of tasks will be to connect and start up the polar crane.
In a nuclear power plant, the steel dome is part of the reactor building’s hermetic protection system. It is designed to withstand high external and internal pressures and protect against radiation release.
The Kursk 2 nuclear power station is being constructed as a replacement of four power units with RBMK-1000 reactors of the operating Kursk 1 nuclear power station that will be decommissioned.
Construction of Kursk 2-1 began in April 2018 and of Kursk 2-2 in April 2019.
The new units will be the first of Russia’s Generation III+ VVER-TOI pressurised water reactor type. The VVER-TOI technology was developed from the 1,200 MW AES-2006 pressurised water reactor.