The reactor pressure vessel (RPV) has been delivered for Unit 2 of the Akkuyu nuclear power station under construction in southwest Turkey, project owner Akkuyu Nuclear JSC said.
The RPV, which weighs about 340 tonnes and is 11.5 metres high and 5.6 metres wide, is one of the largest reactor components, a vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.
The RPV, which weighs about 340 tonnes and is 11.5 metres high and 5.6 metres wide, is one of the largest reactor components, a vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.
Akkuyu Nuclear said Izhorskiye Zavody began the design and manufacturing process for the component in March 2019, while the completed RPV was shipped to Turkey in November 2021 by sea from St Petersburg. Installation is planned for 2022.
The Akkuyu nuclear power station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Turkey, is being built near Mersin on the country’s southern Mediterranean coast under an intergovernmental contract signed with Russia in 2010.
It will have four Generation III+ VVER-1200 units, with the first expected to come online in 2023 and a further unit starting every year afterwards. The total estimated cost of the Akkuyu project stands at $20bn.
