ENERGY SAFETY GROUP IS A PARTICIPANT AND PARTNER OF THE II INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL CONFERENCE NAMED AFTER V.M. VOYEVODIN “PROBLEMS OF MODERN NUCLEAR ENERGY”
On April 16-18, the II International Scientific and Technical Conference named after V.N. Voyevodin “Problems of Modern Nuclear Energy” was held at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. The conference was organized by the Ukrainian Nuclear Society (UkrNS) and supported by ENERGY SAFETY GROUP.
The conference featured a panel discussion on the completion of KhNPP Units 3 and 4, where the strategic importance of the project, technical challenges, and the role of scientific and technical support were discussed. It also addressed issues of materials science, new technologies for fuel assemblies and pressure vessel steels, radiation protection, and forecasting environmental impacts.
At the conference, ENERGY SAFETY GROUP was represented by Andriy Ganenko, a leading engineer, with a report “Analysis of the possibility of retaining large volumes of radioactive water and heat removal from the containment for NPPs with VVER-1000 reactors”. The company proposes the concept of a long-term containment cooling system (LTCCS) using a steam-gas mixture in the cooling circuit, generated by flooding the corium at the ex-vessel stage of severe accidents as a solution to the problem for Ukrainian 1000 MWe reactors. After all, the Fukushima Daiichi accident demonstrated the disadvantages of storing radioactive water in additional tanks: limited tank capacity, risks of leakage and radioactive contamination of the environment. Instead, the alternative approach has a higher efficiency of heat removal due to boiling, ensures that radioactive coolant with corium particles does not escape outside the containment, and thus prevents an increase in the volume of radioactive water during severe accident management.
This concept is based on arranging the heat removal process using a heat exchanger and a turbine-driven pump located outside the containment in the reactor building. This technology is already being implemented at Rivne NPP Units 1 and 2.
Oleksandr Mazurok, Director General of Energy Safety Group LLC, PhD, who moderated the section “Improvement of NPP Safety and Efficiency”, co-authored another report “Determination of Operating Temperature of Absorber Part of Control Assemblies, Assessment of Their Cooling Reliability in VVER-440 Reactor Core”. The report was prepared by experts of the STC “Nuclear Fuel Cycle” of KIEP, Energy Safety Group, E.O. Paton Institute of Electric Welding, and the Scientific and Technical Center of Energoatom.
“The conference held by UkrNS was another example of consolidation of efforts of business, science and education in wartime”, summarized Oleksandr Mazurok, Director General of Energy Safety Group LLC, PhD, who moderated the section “Improvement of NPP Safety and Efficiency”.
