In pictures: Akkuyu 2's inner dome lifted into place

A heavy duty crawler crane was used for the lift in an operation which took about seven hours in total.

_{(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

It involved more than 40 specialists at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant site, ensuring it was firmly secured for the lift.

_{​(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

It had taken about four months to pre-assemble the dome, made of 15 assembly sections, near the reactor building.

_{​(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

_{​(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

_{​(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 units at Akkuyu, in the southern Mersin province. The units have two containment buildings. The inner one has a steel lining ensuring the leak-tightness of the reactor compartment and special concrete; the outer containment is made of reinforced concrete and is designed to withstand external impacts.

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC Chief Executive Officer Sergei Butсkikh, said: "The installation of the inner containment dome is one of the most technically complex and critical operations in the construction of a reactor building. The construction and installation team prepares for it over several months. A great deal of work has been accomplished: the manufacturing and delivery of the inner containment sections to the site by road and sea, the pre-assembly of the structure, welding of its components, and preparation for the lift. The successful completion of this operation is the result of the efforts of hundreds of professionals - engineers, assemblers, welders, riggers, crane operators, and many others."

The next stage of work on the unit will see welding of the dome into place on the inner containment, while work continues on reinforcing and concreting the containment. Last month Turkey's nuclear regulator granted a permit for commissioning work to take place on the second unit.

Background

Rosatom is building the four reactors under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. According to the terms of the 2010 Intergovernmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, the aim was for the commissioning of the first power unit of the nuclear power plant to take place within seven years from receipt of all permits for the construction of the unit.

_{All four units at the site are under construction ​(Image: Akkuyu NPP)}

The licence for the construction of the first unit was issued in 2018, with construction work beginning that year. The first steam generators were shipped to the site - for unit 1 - in August 2020. Nuclear fuel was delivered to the site in April 2023. The aim is for unit 1 to begin supplying Turkey's energy system during 2026.

When the 4,800 MWe plant is completed, it is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

Turkey has plans for a second nuclear power plant, at Sinop, and has also been in talks with China about plans for a third plant, in the Thrace region in the country's north-west.

The country is also developing plans for small modular reactors, with the aim of adding 5 GWe of capacity by 2050 - which would mean the equivalent of at least 16 individual SMRs.