8 August 2023, Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, Turkey – Concreting of the reactor building foundation slab has been completed at the construction site of Akkuyu NPP Unit 4 of the. The completion of an important construction stage enables to proceed to the construction of the reactor cavity walls, where the reactor core localization device — the “core catcher” will be located.
A special high-quality concrete mix is used for the construction of power plant units foundations. The concrete composition includes stone materials of natural origin — crushed stone and sand, which are extracted directly at the Akkuyu NPP construction site. Monitoring of the concrete mixture parameters is taken throughout the technological process of manufacturing. Its features such as temperature, cone sediment, and density are checked. Each batch of concrete mixture passes a number of laboratory control operations at the Akkuyu NPP construction site.
3.5 thousand tons of reinforcement and 17.5 thousand cubic meters of concrete mix were laid in the foundation of the reactor building to ensure maximum strength of the slab. For comparison – this volume of concrete would be enough to create the site of 10 soccer fields with a height of 1 meter.
“The completion of foundation slab concreting represents one of the key events of the year at the fourth power unit of our plant. A special gratitude is expressed to the builders for their well-coordinated uninterrupted work. I point out that all the engineering solutions during the construction of the Akkuyu NPP are being carried out in accordance with the modern requirements of the world nuclear community, the IAEA safety standards as well as international regulations and national requirements of the Republic of Turkey”, AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC Chief Executive Officer Anastasia Zoteeva noted.
Upon successful laboratory tests of concrete for strength, the builders proceeded to the next stage of the Unit 4 construction — the construction of the external and internal walls of the reactor building.
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Akkuyu NPP is the first-ever nuclear power plant in the Republic of Turkey. The Akkuyu NPP 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. According to the terms and conditions of the Inter-Governmental Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey, the NPP’s first power unit is supposed to be commissioned within 7 years after obtaining all construction authorizations. With regard to the construction license for Unit 1 was obtained in 2018, the deadline is 2025. At the same time, the project stakeholders are making their best efforts to ensure readiness for the commissioning works at Unit 1 in 2023, a jubilee year for the Republic of Turkey.
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