Name of the Project
Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) project.

Location
Mersin, Turkey.

Project Owner/s
Akkuyu Nuclear, comprising Inter RAO UES JSC, Rosenergoatom JSC, Atomtechenergo JSC, Atomenergoremont JSC and Rusatom Energy International JSC.

Project Description
The Akkuyu NPP will be based on an NPP-2006 serial project. The 4 800 MWe plant will comprise four VVER1200 reactors and is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

The power unit includes a reactor plant and a turbine plant.

The primary circuit is radioactive and comprises a reactor, four reactor coolant loops, four reactor coolant pumps, heating parts of four steam generators and one steam pressuriser.

The secondary circuit is not radioactive. It comprises steam generators; fresh steam conduits; one turbine unit comprising a turbine plant and a turbine generator; condensate pumps; a system of low-pressure regenerative heaters; a turbine condensate system; deaerators; a feedwater system, including feedwater pumps; and a system of high-pressure regenerative heaters.

The turbine is equipped with a condensing unit, regenerative installation for heating the feedwater and separators – steam superheaters – with unregulated steam extraction for the NPP’s auxiliary needs and for heating chemically treated water additives in the circuit.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at $20-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction of the first unit began in 2018, with startup planned for 2023. Construction of Unit 2 started in April 2020.

Latest Developments
Akkuyu Nuclear has reported that the main components of the turbine plant of Akkuyu Unit 1, including the stator, turbine generator rotor and low-pressure cylinder, have been delivered to the project construction site.

The turbine generator comprises two main parts – a rotor and a stator, which is the stationary part of the generator. The stator is a spacious cylindrical structure of steel that is 12 m long. The rotor is a powerful accumulator of mechanical energy and rotates inside the stator. The rotor is involved in the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy.

The structure of Akkuyu NPP steam turbine consists of three modules – one combined high- and intermediate-pressure cylinder, and two low-pressure cylinders. Each module is equipped with a cylinder with blades, into which steam is supplied. While passing through the high- and intermediate-pressure cylinder, the steam spins the turbine, which, in turn, produces electricity.

Welding of the main circulation pipeline (MCP), a key assembly operation scheduled for 2022, has started in the reactor building of Akkuyu Unit 1. The pipeline connects the main equipment of the reactor plant – the reactor, steam generators and reactor coolant pumps – thus, shaping the NPP primary circuit.

Installation of the pipeline includes not only the assembly and welding of pipes but also the high-temperature treatment of joints, followed by a special build-up welding on the inside of the pipeline. It provides corrosion resistance for the pipeline, increases durability of welded joints and ensures the pipeline's operating lifetime of at least 60 years as stipulated by the project design. During the installation, specialists will have to weld 28 pipeline joints, assemble about 260 t of pipes and steel structures, as well as perform welded joints quality control.

The MCP is 160 m long. The wall thickness of the special steel pipes is 7 cm. At the NPP operation stage, the coolant – water, with a temperature of up to 330 °C at pressure of 160 atm will be circulated in the MCP.

Heat energy, generated in the reactor, is transferred from the primary circuit to the secondary circuit through the steam generator heat-exchange tubes, resulting in the production of saturated steam. Through the steam pipeline it goes to the steam turbine, which drives the generator that generates electric current.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Rosatom (construction of VVER-1200 reactors under a build, own, operate model); GE Steam Power and AEM Technology, a joint venture between AtomEnergoMash and General Electric, or GE (design and supply of the equipment and systems for the whole conventional island); JSC Tyazhmash (core melt trap); and Nukem Technologies and NIKIMT-Atomstroy JSC (supply of the equipment for compacting SRW).

Contact Details for Project Information
Akkuyu NPP JSC, tel +90 312 442 60 00, fax +90 312 442 60 16 or email info@akkuyu.com.