Installation of the main equipment at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant
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
Installation of the main equipment within the reactor building of Unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP has been completed.
In addition to the reactor pressure vessel installed in 2021, the main circulation pumps (MCP) set, hydraulic accumulators of the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) and steam generators have been installed in the design position in the reactor building. The reactor coolant pipeline (RCPL) units have also been delivered to the installation area; preassembly thereof was made at a specially equipped shop at the NPP construction site.
MCP shells are first-grade safety products. The main coolant pump set at the NPP ensures circulation of coolant (demineralised water) of 300 °C under pressure. The one shell weighs more than 31 t and is 3.5 m high and more than 3 m wide. One power unit of the NPP with VVER-1200 type reactors is equipped with four MCPs.
ECCS hydro-accumulators are one of the most important components of the NPP safety system. Four accumulators made of carbon steel – each weighing 78 t, and one for each reactor coolant pipeline loop – contain 60 t of aqueous boric acid solution and are connected with the reactor pressure vessel. ECCS is designed for automatic supply of boric acid solution to the reactor core in the event of coolant leakage. The system provides safe removal of reactor core afterheat in the event of emergency with primary circuit depressurization.
The steam generators are classified as the main equipment of the reactor facility coolant circuit and are designed to transfer heat released in the reactor core to the secondary circuit, where vapour rotating the power unit turbine is generated.
The preparation stage for welding of the reactor coolant pipeline (RCPL) connecting the main equipment of the NPP reactor coolant system starts with the completion of the steam generator installation. The RCPL welding stage, which is very important for assuring the safe operation of the power unit, takes about three months. It is planned to start welding in spring 2022.
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 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.