Alstom will supply half-speed turbine technology to Russian nuclear supplier

Turbomachinery International, Mar/Apr 2007

Alstom is aligning with Russian nuclear plant supplier Atomenergomash to jointly design and produce plants for the growing nuclear market in Russia and abroad. The joint venture with Atomenergomash, a subsidiary of Atomenergoprom, the state-owned company that produces equipment for Russia's civil nuclear program, will be located near Moscow and will draw on Alstom's "Arabelle" half-speed turbine technology that Alstom will transfer to the Russian firm.

Alsom and Atomenergomash will invest 200 million euros. The Arabelle turbine has outputs up to 1,750 MW.

"A nuclear renaissance in Russia" (p. 20, Nov./Dec. 2006), pointed out that Russia is embarking on a massive project to upgrade its nuclear manufacture capabilities to supply to the growing domestic and international market. However, Russians turbine companies do not possess half-speed turbine technology, which stayed with the Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Half-speed (~1,500 rpm) turbines are considered more reliable and efficient than full-speed (~3,000 rpm) ones, especially at higher capacity. And the current trend is to go for nuclear blocks of over 1,500 MW.