This is one of the key stages of preparation for the first criticality. During the procedure, 163 dummy fuel assemblies were sequentially loaded into the reactor. They fully simulate the design, weight and dimensions of the standard nuclear fuel, but do not contain nuclear materials.
The DFA loading is one of the final stages of preparation for cold and hot run-in of the reactor plant equipment before the first criticality. The use of DFA allows to confirm the readiness for further pre-commissioning works, during which specialists will check the hydraulic characteristics of the RP and work out fuel handling operations with a refueling machine.
The DFA loading was carried out under the supervision of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency of the Republic of Türkiye (NDK) in strict compliance with safety requirements.
Dmitry Nikulin, Director for Construction of Main Facilities, T2IC :
“Loading of dummy fuel assemblies is one of the stages that confirms the high level of readiness of power unit 1 for subsequent pre-start operations.
This event was preceded by a large amount of construction and installation work, including completion of installation of the reactor plant main equipment, the necessary process systems and preparation of the premises for transition to the commissioning phase. For the construction team, this is an important result of many years of work and an indicator that power unit 1 is consistently moving towards the first criticality. At the same time, the experience gained at power unit 1 already helps us to more effectively arrange work on the remaining power units of the NPP.”
Information note from TITAN-2 Holding
TITAN-2 Holding (part of ROSATOM State Corporation) is one of the key participants in large-scale nuclear industry projects in Russia and abroad.
The Holding companies perform a full cycle of work: design, construction organization, construction, electric installation, commissioning of facilities.
Today, TITAN-2 is the general contractor of the construction of new power units of the Leningrad, Kola and Smolensk NPPs, participates in implementation of the PDEC “Breakthrough” project in Seversk, as well as in the largest international nuclear projects – Akkuyu NPP in Türkiye, Paks II NPP in Hungary and El-Dabaa NPP in Egypt.
New power units of the Leningrad NPP and the Kursk NPP-2, the Core Shared Research Facility Siberian Circular Photon Source (SKIF) in Novosibirsk, as well as the facilities of Innopolis in Tatarstan are among the projects completed by the Holding. The competencies of TITAN-2 are also in demand in construction of large industrial, research, social and infrastructural facilities.