Unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP is being prepared for the pre-commissioning operations, which include a wide range of works. We have collected the latest news from the construction site of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

In late September, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev visited the Akkuyu construction site. He inspected the progress of the works at the key facilities of the first power unit.

“We are at the final stage of preparations for the pre-commissioning operations at the first unit of the Akkuyu NPP, so the on-site works are being carried out as fast as possible, with the most efforts and resources concentrated on the facilities needed to prepare Unit 1 for commissioning. Its systems and equipment are being gradually made ready for operation and checked thoroughly for compliance with the design parameters,” said Akkuyu Nuclear CEO Sergey Butskikh. According to him, workers will have to carry out another key operation in the turbine building by the end of the year, which is the installation of the jacking gear for the turbine. This will be the final point in the assembly of the turbine, meaning that the turbine unit and all of its auxiliary systems are ready for testing.

Unit 1

In mid-­October, the last of the two low-pressure rotors was installed in the turbine building of Unit 1.

The installation was supervised by an engineer representing the manufacturer. The rotor is one of the key components of the turbine: superheated steam produced in the reactor steam generators from desalinated water is supplied to the rotor blades under high pressure. Energy from compressed and heated steam causes the rotor to rotate, being converted into mechanical energy and then transferred to the turbine generator producing electric current. The rotor assembly weighs 255 tonnes.

“The rotor was mounted using an overhead crane. Installation of the rotor is a technically complex operation that requires high precision. The operation was successful, and now all the key large-size components of the turbine unit at Akkuyu Unit 1 are in their design position,” said Sergey Butskikh, CEO of Akkuyu Nuclear.

In early October, the workers finished the assembly and installation of four electric motors of the reactor coolant pumps. Each electric motor weighs 58.3 tonnes and is about 6 meters high. They will circulate coolant (desalinated water) in the primary circuit and ensure heat removal from the reactor core.

In late September, the builders installed a dome of the outer containment shell (OCS) in its design position. It is the last section of the OCS; its installation lasted six hours and was carried out using the world’s most powerful crawler crane. The dome weighs 147.6 tonnes and has a diameter of 34.7 meters.

The latest Russian-­designed power units with VVER‑1200 reactors are equipped with a double (inner and outer) containment system. It ensures the maximum level of safety of the nuclear power plant and gives more strength to the reactor building. The outer containment shell is capable of withstanding magnitude 9 earthquakes, hurricanes of up to 60 m/s, tsunamis and shock waves of up to 10 meters high.

Other news from the site

In mid-­September, the 2,500 cu m water intake bucket of Akkuyu’s first onshore pumping station was filled with water. It will ensure a continuous supply of cooling water for the nuclear plant facilities.

Also in mid-­September, two emergency core cooling system (ECCS) tanks were installed in their design position at Akkuyu Unit 2. Each tank is a high-pressure cylinder-­shaped vessel made of steel and having two elliptical bottoms. One tank weighs around 80 tonnes and can hold 60 cubic meters of liquid.

“The emergency core cooling system has four tanks containing an emergency stock of aqueous boric acid solution. Being a neutron absorber, it is used for flooding the reactor core, thus ensuring safety in an emergency situation,” Sergey Butskikh explained.

Construction and beyond

Rosatom was the main partner of the 18th International Congress and Expo Energy Is Future (EIF) 2024 held in Istanbul in mid-­September, EIF is one of Turkey’s largest exhibition events covering the energy cluster of the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking at the opening of the Congress, Akkuyu Nuclear Board Chairman Anton Dedusenko emphasized the role of nuclear power in addressing the energy agenda of the country. “The Akkuyu NPP project is an excellent example of the investment, social and economic effect that nuclear energy produces on a country. The nuclear station promotes sustainable growth of the national GDP, creates thousands of new jobs, stimulates the development of high-tech industries, and changes people’s lives for the better,” he noted.

Denis Sezyomin, Director for Construction and Production Organization at Akkuyu Nuclear, spoke about the progress of the Akkuyu NPP, while Polina Lion, Chief Sustainability Officer at Rosatom, talked about the importance of including nuclear power in green taxonomies. In addition, presentations were made on Rosatom’s comprehensive product offering for the Turkish market (with a focus on energy solutions) and on Rosatom’s lithium-ion batteries and energy storage products.

The company’s exhibition booth was dedicated to innovative large-­scale nuclear generation projects based on the VVER‑1200 reactor technology, which is employed at the Akkuyu NPP. The visitors could also learn about small-­scale nuclear generation projects, onshore and offshore SMR designs, Rosatom’s wind power projects, and energy storage solutions offered by the nuclear corporation.

In early October, Rosatom took part in Technofest 2024, the largest technology festival in Turkey. Akkuyu Nuclear regularly takes part in the festival. This year, the company’s booth was themed around the Nuclear for Everyone concept. Nuclear energy is an industry employing people of various professions, including engineers, physicists, chemists, mechanics, and so on. The interactive exhibition gave visitors a chance to learn about the basic principles of nuclear power plant operation and study physical and chemical phenomena. Every day, the Akkuyu NPP exhibition booth was attended by at least 5,000 children and teenagers, their families and school teachers. Over 50,000 people visited the booth during the five days of Technofest.

Also in October, Akkuyu Nuclear representatives took part in the Global Nuclear Communications Forum of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO). The WANO brings together nuclear power plant operators from all over the world, representing a total of about 450 power units.

For three days, representatives of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant adopted international experience and best practices in the field of safety and reliability of nuclear power plants, and studied tools and methods that can be employed at the plant in the future.