April 12, 2021, Saint Petersburg/Leningrad Region, Russia. Representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) of Turkey during the period from March 15 to March 19 visited Russian plants – manufacturers of equipment and materials for Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.
During the visit they reviewed organization of the equipment production cycle process and the progress of manufacture in accordance with quality plans. The NDK delegation visited the production site of Izhora Plants PJSC in Saint Petersburg where the reactor pressure vessel for Akkuyu NPP Power Unit No. 2 and a lot of other components of the NPP's basic equipment are being manufactured.
After that, NDK representatives visited production shops of OMZ-Special Steels LLC where metal workpieces for vessel equipment of the reactor hall are being manufactured; Special Materials Production and Research Corporation JSC – manufacturer of air locks and sealed doors.
The final point of the inspection was a visit to the facilities of TITAN TECHNOLOGY PIPELINE – a subsidiary of CONCERN TITAN-2 Holding where various metal structures are being made, including embedded parts, reinforcement blocks, and components for the internal containment of the reactor building.
During the inspection, members of the Turkish delegation led by Head of the NDK's Supervision Activity Department Yusuf Ceylan were accompanied by representatives of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC – Managing Director for GR and International Cooperation Alexei Frolov and Director for Interaction with the Regulator Ahmet Çelik.
In the course of the visit, representatives of NDK held meetings with heads of manufacture plants and units in charge of quality control; on the last day of the visit, they also had a meeting with Chief Executive Officer of JSC TITAN-2 CONCERN Grigory Naginsky. During the meeting, Grigory Naginsky and heads of other companies taking part in the Akkuyu NPP project implementation told the NDK representatives in detail of the progress of construction work, technologies and main stages of the program for assembly of equipment for Akkuyu NPP under construction.
Managing Director for GR and International Cooperation of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC Alexei Frolov noted, "The Nuclear Regulatory Authority intensively carries out supervision over all stages of manufacture of workpieces and equipment for Akkuyu NPP based on regulatory documents and licenses issued by the regulator. According to requirements of the Turkish legislation in the sphere of nuclear power plant projects licensing, all manufacturers of equipment and materials for Akkuyu NPP are subject to mandatory certification by NDK. In the course of the manufacture of equipment and materials, representatives of the Authority pay regular visits to the plants at specified check-points to carry out inspections and monitor the production process to verify compliance with quality plans.
AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, as the Customer and owner of the NPP project, ensures coordination between the regulator and equipment manufacturers, and provides NDK with all the required support for efficient inspection activity."
"From the point of view of NDK, the most important aspect of the project and manufacture of equipment is compliance with nuclear safety requirements. NDK and the Organization for Technical Support of Inspection Activity (NÜTED) carefully study quality plans and, at specified check-points, carry out inspections and relevant production control on a stage-by-stage basis at the plants where all equipment of the first, second, and third safety class is manufactured. Before the equipment is sent to the NPP construction site, we need to make sure that it was manufactured in accordance with all safety standards and requirements," said Head of the NDK's Supervision Activity Department Yusuf Ceylan.
At the end of the visit, the NDK delegation led by Head of the Supervision Activity Department Yusuf Ceylan expressed their satisfaction with organization of the production process at the manufacturing plants and confirmed that materials and equipment for Akkuyu NPP are manufactured with observance of quality plans and regulatory documents.