Sogin, the construction site opened in Latina to dismantle the Boilers

14 November 2024

 

Sogin has opened the construction site at the Latina nuclear power plant, where dismantling operations on the six steam generators (boilers) will be carried out. These characteristic red cylinders are positioned outside the reactor building, which during operations allowed heat to be transferred from carbon dioxide to water, thus producing the steam needed to activate the turbines and produce electricity.

This is a particularly complex activity because it involves large components positioned at height: each boiler is 24 meters high with a diameter of 6 metres, weighing a total of 3,700 tons. Work is currently underway on the confinement structures that will allow the areas affected by the boiler cutting and material handling activities to be isolated and kept safe from the external environment for the entire duration of operations.

The project involves the subsequent sectioning of each boiler into nine cylindrical parts, weighing approximately 90 tons each, working progressively from the top to the bottom. The technique adopted involves cutting with diamond wire, which allows the components inside the steam generator to be cut at the same time (tie rods, spacers, shelves, sheets, etc.).

The cylindrical portions will be brought to the ground with a special crane and then transferred inside the materials’ treatment station that has already been built, where the tube bundles will be removed, the outer mantle cut into smaller parts and decontaminated with high-pressure water. Most of the operations will be carried out using high-tech robotic systems.

The metallic materials resulting from cutting the mantle will be released and destined for recovery, whereas the tube bundles are treated by fusion at a qualified operator, in line with Sogin's circular economy strategy based on the minimisation of radioactive waste.