The RPV is one of the main and largest components in a nuclear reactor system and its installation is considered a project milestone. It is a vessel of about 340 tonnes with a height of nearly 12 metres which contains the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.
The component was delivered to the Akkuyu site near Mersin on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast in February 2022.
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.