News

08.05.2023

INSTALLATION OF THE THIRD CONTAINMENT TIER COMPLETED AT AKKUYU NPP UNIT 3

May 08, 2023, Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, Türkiye. – The third tier of the inner containment (IC), a basic component of the nuclear power plant's safety system, has been installed at Akkuyu NPP Unit 3.

The structure is a support for pipeline penetrations and the polar crane which is used for nuclear reactor maintenance operations at the NPP operation stage.

The inner containment comprising steel lining and special concrete ensures the air-tightness of the reactor compartment. The third IC tier is a 12-m high welded structure comprising 24 sections and weighting 280 tons in total. Parts of the inner containment are assembled into a single round unit of 44-m diameter. The tier installation using the world's most powerful crawler crane and specially designed lifting beam, which ensures protection of the structure during installation, took 5 hours.

"We continue a full-fledged installation of the inner containment, one of the crucial components of the reactor building. Upon installation of the third tier, the height of the Unit No. 3 reached 28.95 meters. We are moving on to joining two sections, the second and the third ones, of the inner containment, and then will move on to reinforcement and concrete-pouring of the containment,” said AKKUYU NUCLEAR First Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Director of Akkuyu NPP under Construction Sergei Butсkikh.

Reactor buildings of Akkuyu NPP power units are equipped with  double containment. The outer containment is formed from reinforced concrete and designed to withstand extreme external impacts – earthquakes of up to magnitude 9, tsunamis, hurricanes, and their combinations. The inner containment structure is designed to eliminate the possibility of release of radioactive substances into the environment.

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Akkuyu NPP is the first-ever nuclear power plant in the Republic of Türkiye. The Akkuyu NPP project includes four power units equipped with Generation 3+ WWER reactors of Russian design. The capacity of each NPP power unit will be 1200 MW.  Russian Rosatom State Corporation owns 100% of the shares in the project and may sell up to 49% to one investor or several companies on the basis of the Inter-Governmental Agreement.

Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.

According to the terms and conditions of the Inter-Governmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Türkiye, the NPP's first power unit is supposed to be commissioned within 7 years after obtaining all construction authorizations. Given that the construction license for the Unit No. 1 was obtained in 2018, the deadline is 2025. At the same time, the project stakeholders are making their best efforts to ensure the readiness for start-up and adjustment works on the Unit No. 1 in 2023, a jubilee year for the Republic of Türkiye.