Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced the completion of another on-time milestone in the development of UAE's first nuclear energy plant, with the installation of its Unit 2 Steam Generators (SGs) at Barakah.

The two huge stainless steel SG units, which are similar in length to a tennis court, were manufactured in South Korea over a period of four years by Doosan Heavy Industries - part of Enec’s Korean prime contractor consortium. Following manufacture, the generators were then shipped to Barakah where they were set in place inside the Unit 2 Reactor Containment Building (RCB).

In a nuclear energy plant which uses Pressurised Water Technology, the steam generator acts as a heat exchanger where the water carrying the heat generated from the nuclear reaction is used to safely turn demineralised water into steam.
This is an in-built safety feature that keeps the water used in the reactor and the water used in the turbine segregated. The steam produced in the steam generator is then used to spin a turbine which drives a generator to produce electricity.  

Each of Barakah’s steam generators contain numerous tubes that safely carry heated processed water at high pressure. These tubes are made of an alloy composed of nickel, chromium and iron, making them strong and corrosion resistant, even at high temperatures.  

“This is an important milestone in the continued progress and delivery of Enec’s second unit, which is scheduled to come online approximately one year after the first unit, which will be in 2017,”  said Mohamed Al Hammadi, Enec CEO. “As with all of our work at Barakah, I am proud to see the team continue to deliver these significant achievements with safety, quality and performance as top priority at all times.”

Over the next six months, further piping connection work will take place to connect the SGs to the Unit 2 Reactor Vessel, Turbine Generators and Condenser in order to allow water and steam to pass in and out as required for the electricity production process, Enec said.

Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (Barakah NPP) will eventually consist of four nuclear power generating units, safely housed in two plants, with a combined capacity of approximately 5,600 MW. Barakah Unit 1 is now more than 75 per cent complete, Unit 2 now 53 per cent complete, and construction of the overall Units 1 to 4 programme now 50 per cent complete. In 2017, Enec’s first 1,400 MW Unit is scheduled for completion. Additional units will follow at 12 monthly intervals, with the fourth unit set to commence commercial operations in 2020, pending regulatory reviews and licensing. - TradeArabia News Service