The Rostov nuclear power plant (Volgodonsk NPP) employed new 3D laser scanning technology devised by NIAEP-ASE and the Intergraph Corporation to obtain vital engineering and geospatial information needed for the plant’s further construction.

The newly obtained data created using 3D imaging allowed filling the gap of missing information detail­ing the Rostov plant’s exact layout. Such information was not provided in the original blueprint of the facility. Paper-based blueprints of the facil­ity were enhanced with 3D modeling by Intergraph’s software and fused with photorealistic data obtained with the help of Leica laser scanner for greater precision. The entire power plant was recreated inside the Smart- Plant Fusion central console environ­ment, complete with a listings of the full range of mechanical, technical, operational, and maintenance details that allows users to plan and carry out a wide range of services.

NIAEP-ASE is now ready to em­ploy its newly developed technology in its other projects. 3D modeling allows faster and safer power plant construction using a virtual unified central console to integrate all engi­neering and photorealistic data. The company drastically simplified access to certain vital information about the plant and improved its efficiency.

The Volgodonsk power plant gen­erates 15 percent of the electrical power consumed in the region, which makes it one of the largest in the south of Russia. The Rostov NPP sits on the bank of the Tsimlyansk reser­voir, which is on the lower Don River in the vicinity of the city of Volgo­donsk in the Rostov region. The daily output of the Rostov NPP is 25 million kilowatt-hours, which translates to a staggering eight billion kWh a year. There are two reactors at the facility. Each of the 1,000 megawatt reactors are cooled and contained with the use of water. The plant is currently building two additional reactors.

Gerhard Sallinger, the president of Intergraph Process, Power & Marine, credited his partner, NIAEP-ASE for a job well-done, “NIAEP-ASE has rec­ognized the power of engineering information management to ensure efficient handover, reduce costs, and improve plant safety. We are proud of the results to date, and look forward to continued success.”

Integraph’s newest product, the SmartPiant Fustion software pack­age, quickly loads various formats of non-standardized information and orderly presents it through a user- friendly interface, such as a web browser. A large spectrum of various documents, drawings, spreadsheets, databases, and models in 3D, are captured and supplemented with a high definition survey provided by a photorealistic laser scanner.