The reactor pressure vessel has been installed at Unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power station under construction in southwest Turkey, according to project owner Akkuyu Nuclear JSC.
The RPV, which weighs 330 tonnes and is 12 metres high and 4.5 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 330 tonnes and is 12 metres high and 4.5 metres wide, is one of the largest reactor components, a vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.
It was delivered to the Akkuyu site near Mersin on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast in November 2020.
Akkuyu Nuclear said that after the RPV installation, workers will proceed with concreting the reactor shaft and installing bearings for the main circulation pipeline and steam generators.
The $20bn Akkuyu, the first commercial nuclear power station in Turkey, is being built by Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom under a contract signed in 2010.
The station 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.
