Generator Ships by Rail to Western Russia

The first of four steam generators for the Novovoronezh II nuclear power plant in Russia has been transported to the construction site by rail over a distance of 500 kilometers.

The 430-tonne generator measured 4.5 meters in diameter and 5.2 meters high. It was manufactured by ZIO-Podolsk, who said that it took two weeks to load the steam generator onto the only railcar in Russia capable of carrying such a heavy cargo.

"This is an articulated-type transporter, equipped with a hydraulic lifting device," Vladimir Pikhtin, head of contracts and sales at ZIO-Podolsk, told reporters.

All four steam generators were completed last year and now the remaining three await the return of the railcar. The second steam generator is scheduled to be transported to the plant before the end of March.

The US$5 billion plant is scheduled to start up its first reactor by the end of this year.

Photo courtesy of Atomenergomash, parent company of ZIO-Padolsk.