Rosatom delivers RPV to Akkuyu plant site

11 November 2020

The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey was delivered to the site yesterday, Rosatom has announced. The equipment was transported 3000 km over 20 days from the Atommash quay at the Tsimlyanskoye reservoir in Volgodonsk, Russia to the Eastern Cargo Terminal at the Akkuyu plant site, which is in Mersin province. Atommash is a subsidiary of Russia's AEM Technology.

The RPV arrives at the Akkuyu site (Image: Rosatom)

The RPV weighs 330 tonnes, has a 4.5 m diameter and is 12 m high. Its manufacture took nearly three years and involved more than 750 production processes. It passed more than 300 quality control tests at various stages of its manufacture.

"Construction and installation works at the Akkuyu site are progressing at a very good pace," Sergey Butckikh, first deputy CEO and director of NPP construction at Akkuyu Nükleer AŞ, said. Arrival of the RPV follows delivery in late September of four steam generators for the unit.

The 4800 MWe plant will comprise four VVER1200 reactors and is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. Turkey aims to bring unit 1 online in 2023, the centenary of its foundation as a republic.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News