Tests on zirconium superheating channels in the first unit at the Kurchatov Beloyarsk nuclear power station

The experimental PPK-Ts units built to test the design principles for the RBMKP-2400 draft are viable; the PPK-Ts channels provide nuclear superheating of the steam to 520°C at a pressure of 90 kgf/cm2. The channels are transferred from water cooling to steam cooling in accordance with the standard rules for starting up the first unit. Experience with starting up the first unit containing the PPK-Ts has shown high rates of rise in the steam temperature at the exit from the channel after flushing the PPK-Ts on account of large heat leaks within the channels. This feature must be eliminated in finalizing the design of the PPK-Ts and defining the working conditions more closely.