Four steam generators for Akkuyu Unit 1 have been delivered to the construction site. These core pieces of the reactor equipment, each weighing 365 metric tons, were unloaded at the Eastern cargo terminal. Their voyage began on August 22 at Atommash (part of Rosatom’s engineering division) in the Russian city of Volgodonsk. A large crawler crane Liebherr LR1800 was used to unload them at the point of destination.
The next step is to pass an incoming inspection, which will be conducted by a group of experts. They will assess quality and quantity of the materials supplied, inspect the equipment for defects, check the packaging and quality of corrosion proofing, as well as completeness and correctness of the shipping documents.
Steam generators are Class 1 safety products. They are horizontal cylinder-shaped vessels with two elliptical bottoms. Coolant inlets and outlets are located in the middle of the cylinder. At Akkuyu NPP, chemically demineralized water will be used as coolant. The upper part of the vessel contains a compartment accumulating steam, while its lower part houses 11,000 stainless steel pipes forming a heat exchange surface. The steam generators will be installed after the erection of columns and supporting structures with embedded parts. The installation precedes the welding of primary coolant pipes.
Core pieces of equipment continue arriving at the Akkuyu construction site. In late September, Atommash finished a reactor pressure vessel for the first power unit of the Turkish nuclear power plant and shipped it to Turkey. This means that Atommash has manufactured and shipped all the most important components of large-size equipment for the reactor of Unit 1.
It took almost three years to manufacture a 12-meter 330-ton reactor pressure vessel. Due to oversized dimensions of the equipment manufactured by Atommash, shipping it to customers is not an easy job. In order to deliver multi-ton pieces of equipment, overhead wires were temporarily removed in the streets of Volgodonsk along the entire way to the pier.
Atomenergomash CEO Andrei Nikipelov commented, “2020 has been a busy year for us from the very beginning. We planned to ship 3 reactor vessels and 17 steam generators this year, which is a record for the entire time our company has been in this business. I am proud to say that we have reached the goal.”
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is growing visibly. Concreting of the basemats has been completed at the nuclear and turbine islands of Unit 2. The basemat concreting process is monitored thoroughly. Quality of the concrete mix is assessed first in the stationary laboratory. Then a sample is taken from each concrete mixer truck and analyzed in the mobile laboratory for temperature, cone slump and density. In order to achieve the maximum strength, 2,452 tons of steel rebar is laid in the basemat in reactor building. This is roughly a third as heavy as all steel structures of the Eiffel Tower. A steel framework is used to keep reinforcement bars in the design position. Having an area of 6,864 square meters, the basemat is 2.6 meters thick and lies eight meters deep.
The weight of the entire reactor building is about 470,000 tons. In other words, the foundation will safely carry a load equal to double as much as the world’s largest ocean cruise ship. The basemat of the reactor building has a high earthquake resistance.
Simultaneously with the concreting of the reactor basemat, the work is underway to make a foundation for the turbine island. This building houses key systems and machines generating electric power, such as a turbine generator, a deaerator and feeding pumps, and auxiliary equipment.
The turbine island belongs to the secondary loop, in which heat energy of water steam is converted into rotational energy of the generator and then into electric energy. Although there are no radioactive media in the secondary loop, safety requirements for the turbine island are as strict as for any other facility of a nuclear power plant.
Nuclear is a knowledge-intensive industry, so talents need to be fostered from early age. Rosatom is willing to make an input in the quality of education in the host region of the nuclear power plant. Akkuyu Nükleer provided financial support to educational institutions in Mersin. Alexei Frolov, Managing Director for GR and International Cooperation at Akkuyu Nükleer, handed over a donation certificate to Yunus Emre Bayraklı, Head of Gülnar District Administration, on the occasion of the new academic year. The money will be given to the Gülnar Department of National Education to be allocated to local schools.
Yunus Emre Bayraklı said, “We pay special attention to raising future generations and we are glad that Akkuyu Nükleer shares our values. Education is a basis for sustainable development and prosperity of the country. We are thankful to Akkuyu Nükleer for the support the company gives to our district.”
Fatih Burgut, Head of Gülnar Department of National Education, noted that the money received would be used for many different purposes, from classroom repairs to sports equipment purchases. Akkuyu Nükleer had already made donations before, giving money to a hospital in Silifke, a family health center, and a school in Büyükeceli.
Anastasia Zoteeva, CEO of Akkuyu Nükleer, sent her greetings to schoolchildren and teachers, on the occasion of the new academic year, “We know that school lays a solid foundation of our future success and achievements. On behalf of Akkuyu Nükleer, I congratulate schools of the Gülnar District, where our nuclear plant is located, on the beginning of the new academic year. The schools have many needs, and we want to support them in augmenting their potential for the sake of future generations. We want local schools to perform better and be more comfortable. I wish you success!”
