Akkuyu nuclear power plant project, Turkey – update

22nd October 2021 By: Sheila Barradas - Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

Akkuyu nuclear power plant project, Turkey – update

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
World Nuclear News has reported that AtomEnergoMash has forged the bottom part of the reactor pressure vessel for the Akkuyu 3 reactor, the construction of which is about to start in Turkey. The steel component weighs about 64 t.

The bottom head of the reactor pressure vessel was completed in two stages. A seamless flat billet weighing 80 t was made from a cylindrical section of metal on September 24. On October 18, the billet was heated for six hours to a maximum temperature of 1 020° C and moved to a 10 000 t press to be formed into its final shape. The metal is 300 mm thick.

Next, the part will be welded to the bottom of the 12-m-long cylindrical reactor pressure vessel, which in total will weigh 330 t.

When completed, it will be transported 3 000 km to Akkuyu for installation at the third nuclear power unit there, which is about to start construction.

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); and JSC Tyazhmash (core melt trap).

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.