Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom’s machine building division Atomenergomash subsidiary, Atommash, has started the shipment of steam generators for the second reactor of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) at Akkuyu, being constructed with the assistance of Rosatom.
An Atommash release said four steam generators for the Akkuyu NPP located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast have been dispatched from the Atommash plant in the Volgodonsk area of Russia on August 31, 2021.
“Four Steam Generators, each weighing 355 tons, will travel 3,000 km by water on its way to the construction site. The first of these four Steam Generators was built 8 months ahead of the initial schedule. The timing of key production operations in the manufacture of the set was halved” said Igor Kotov, Director General of AEM Technology, the parent company of Atommash.
According to Kotov, this major reduction in the manufacturing time was the result of introducing digital technologies, improving efficiency and developing staff. “The manufacture of equipment for nuclear power at the plant has reached the level of a stable ‘production rhythm’ with the maximum utilization of production capacities,” he added.
The statement also said that the Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry that is being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.
Last month, Rosatom announced that construction work had started on the fourth unit of the Akkuyu NPP. Earlier this year, Rosatom had announced the start of construction on the third unit of the Akkuyu NPP. A Rosatom statement said that with the start of construction of Unit 3, building and installation works are now being carried out simultaneously at the construction sites of all four Akkuyu NPP power units, making it the world’s largest nuclear construction site with four power units being built simultaneously.
According to Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, “construction and commissioning of the plant will provide 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity needs. It is also an important contribution to the preservation of our ecology: nuclear power plants are a source of environmentally friendly and uninterrupted electricity. The project is a driver for the development of industry, economy, employment, and also contributes to the development of many related industries.”
Turkey plans to bring the 1,200 MW unit 1 online in 2023. With three more similar units, the Akkuyu NPP will have a total capacity of 4,800 MW. All the units are to be equipped with the state-of-the-art Generation III+ VVER-1200 reactors.
Meanwhile another Rosatom subsidiary Akkuyu Nuclear Company, which is responsible for the construction and subsequent operation of the Akkuyu NPP, has signed a three-year contract with logistics provider FESCO at the Eastern Economic Forum held in Vladivostok, Russia, earlier this month. Under the contract, FESCO will act as the single operator handling cargo delivered for the Akkuyu NPP by sea.
A FESCO statement said that the company will be the single logistics operator providing cargo loading, unloading and transportation services at the Vostochny cargo terminal in Russia and on the Akkuyu NPP construction site in Turkey.
“The agreement signed today (September 4, 2021) is an opportunity to expand our partnership and at the same time our portfolio of rendered services. We will become the single logistics operator of the cargo terminal, which is intended for construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. In future, we plan to strengthen the position of FESCO in this business segment,” FESCO Chairman Andrey Severilov said in a statement.
Rosatom and FESCO already have a record of cooperation in heavy lift cargo logistics under the Akkuyu project, Severilov added.
