"Rosatom is currently implementing the world's two biggest nuclear construction projects, i.e. Akkuyu NPP in Türkiye and El Dabaa NPP in Egypt. In Türkiye, Unit 1 has already stepped in its final phase. Works are performed in strict accordance with the schedule," said Alexey Likhachev.
"The construction readiness of Unit 1 exceeds 90%. All nuclear island equipment has been installed. Stator, which is the foundation of the generation system and the heaviest equipment of the nuclear power plant, is being installed in the turbine hall. If reactor may be compared with the heart that pumps blood through the plant, turbine and generator are the muscle feeded by that blood. This muscle will generate up to 10% of all electricity of such a big country as Türkiye," Rosatom Director General noted. Alexey Likhachev added that the power plant personnel is being trained ahead of schedule, and the world's most modern training center has already been launched at Akkuyu NPP site.
Just before the visit, the NPP builders successfully completed a technically complex operation aimed at installing the turbine generator's stator into the pre-design position. The turbine generator's stator is the heaviest element of the nuclear power plant's equipment. It weighs about 430 tons, is 12-m long and 4.2-m in diameter. The stator was delivered from a warehouse on a special wheeled platform to be installed in the Unit 1 turbine hall. The equipment was lifted to the turbine elevation using a crane-less method, i.e. with a hydraulic rigging system. A wide range of works was completed to conduct such a large-scale operation; the zero-elevation floor of the turbine hall was reinforced, special columns, which height exceeds 18 meters, and a rail track, on which the stator was transported to the place of installation, were installed.
The turbine hall or turbine compartment is one of the key facilities of a nuclear power plant; it is here that the energy of heated steam coming from the reactor hall will be converted into mechanical energy of turbine rotation, and then, in the turbine generator, into electricity. Simultaneously with installation of turbine elements in the turbine hall of Akkuyu NPP Unit 1, pumps, pipelines and other equipment are being installed as scheduled.
For reference
Akkuyu NPP is the first nuclear power plant being built in the Republic of Türkiye. The project includes four power units equipped with Generation 3+ VVER reactors of Russian design. The capacity of each NPP power unit will be 1200 MW. Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.
Russia continues a productive dialog with its foreign colleagues, developing cooperation with countries from all over the world and actively forming a multipolar system of international relations. The implementation of major foreign energy projects also continues. ROSATOM and its entities are actively involved in this activity.