Barakah containment liner assembly starts

Installation has started of the sections of the containment liner plate in the reactor building for unit 1 of the United Arab Emirates’ Barakah nuclear power plant.

Barakah 1 containment liner (Enec)
The containment liner takes shape at Barakah 1 (Image: Enec)

The containment liner plate is a cylindrical steel shell that forms the inner wall, ceiling and floor of the reactor containment building. Due to its size, the component has to be constructed in multiple stages and parts, according to the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec). A total of 19 separate liner rings – each measuring 45 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height – make up the 2000 tonne structure.

The floor and the first two levels of the liner plate were made off-site and have been installed over the past two months. The next three levels have been fabricated and welded together on-site and were installed last week.

Over the next ten months, fabrication and installation of the remaining 14 sections of the liner will take place.

Enec CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi commented that the liner “is one of many physical barriers that ensure the safety of our employees, the community and the environment and make Generation III+ nuclear energy plants incredibly robust structures.”

In a $20 billion deal announced in December 2009, Enec selected a consortium led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) to build four APR-1400 reactors.

Approval of construction licence application for units 1 and 2 came in July 2012. Enec said that construction work on the first two units is progressing on schedule. First concrete for unit 1 was poured the day after the construction licence was issued, while extensive preparatory work is underway at unit 2. First concrete for that unit is expected to be poured later this year.

Enec will apply for an operating licence for unit 1 in 2015. Unit 1 is scheduled to be completed in 2017, with unit 2 following a year later.

Unit 3 is scheduled to begin commercial operation in May 2019, with unit 4 following in May 2020.

Source: World Nuclear News