A principal requirement laid on the VVER reactors which were manufactured in the Czech Republic under the Russian licence was the one of transportability of all components by rail. The requirement was based on conditions of countries in which the units were constructed, i. e. the choice of construction sites and their availability and localization of manufacturing factories out of the reach of water-transport. Skoda Nuclear Machinery Plzeft is one of three plants in which VVER reactors were produced (besides Izhora Plant near St. Petersbourgh and ATOMMASH at Volgodonsk, both in Russia). 21 VVER-440 reactors and 3 VVER-1000 were produced at Skoda. A special railway truck KRUPP was used for the transport of large components including pressure vessels — In several. cases the railway transport was combined with road and water one. E. g.. pressure vessels for NPPs Nord in Germany and Zharnowiec in Poland, were transported by rail to the river port on the Danube near Bratislava and then by the ship to the Black Sea and around the whole Europe to ports and sites in Germany and Poland.

Way of the transport.

Railway to Bratislava, river-boat to Paks Ra і 1way

Railway to Bratislava, ship to Greifswalrl

Railway Ra і 1way

Railway to Bratislava, ship to Gdansk

Railway to Jihlava, road-truck to Bratisla­va. river-boat to Belene Railway

CONCLUSIONS

1. Pressure vessels of integral reactor of medium output have outer dimensions which are comparable with ones of BVRs. Vails of them are more thick and their weights exceed to date heaviest RPV.

2-No substantial differences are expected between existing manufacturing technologies of reactor pressure vessels of PVRs and BVRs and one of future integral reactors. Most significant there will be the size factor. Integral RPVs will be preferrably completely manufactured at shops.

2- Inspection and test techniques and devices for integral RPVs will correspond to ones currently used at PVR and BVR technology. The shop check assembly of reactor internals should be considered as convenient preparation for the on-site assembly.

3. The transport of large pressure vessels is the limiting factor of deployment of integral reactors. Integral units of a medium output should be constructed on sites in the reach of water transport. For the local generation of electricity and heat, small modular units transportable by railway or by road seem to be more prospective.

4. The introduction of integral reactors would require additional investments to productional base. mainly in increasing the loading capacity of manufacturing equipment: welding positioners, supports of machine tools, means of the shop transport etc. The scope of such investments will undoubtedly depend on the number of units required by customers. An appropriate ad-hoc solution would be certainly found for the manufacture of small number of RPVs.

EMSLAND CHOOZ В

KONVOl N4

1. World Nuclear Reactors Survey 1994, Nuclear Engineering Int.

2. Working Material: The Role of the Agency in Advanced Reactor

System Development. IAEA-TC-792.Vienna. 1992

3. Working Material-‘ Review of Advanced WWER Designs, IAEA-CT0764. Vienna. 1992

4. Working Materials for the TCM on Integral Reactors. Obninsk, the Russian Federation. 1994.