Rosatom has completed installing the roof of the turbine building of unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkey. The entire process took three months, the first truss was installed on 10 December 2022. The roof consists of nine enlarged trusses with a total weight of 1140 tonnes, including roofing. Assembly of trusses each weighing between 110 and 200 tonnes was carried out at the construction site in parallel on two stocks that were pre-fabricated for this operation. The installation was carried out by a Liebherr 13000 heavy crawler crane.
Before installing the last trusses, the builders assembled several elements of heavy and large equipment of the turbine plant, including a deaerator and a feed water tank. The next stage of work will be the installation of roofing.
“Installing the roof trusses of the turbine building is a complex and lengthy operation that requires careful preparation,” said Sergey Butskikh, First Deputy General Director & Director of the Akkuyu NPP under construction. “Each truss is set with an accuracy of ten millimetres. The team of builders and installers successfully coped with the task, despite the tight schedule and difficult weather conditions. The next stage of the construction of the turbine hall will involve installation of the main components and components of the turbine generator set.”
Construction and installation work at the Akkuyu NPP site is underway simultaneously at all the main and auxiliary facilities. These include four power units, onshore hydraulic structures, power distribution system, administrative buildings, training centre, and physical protection facilities. All stages of construction are closely monitored by independent inspection organisations and the Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NDK).
Akkuyu, Turkey's first NPP, will eventually host four units of Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors. The pouring of first concrete for unit 1 took place in April 2018, for unit 2 in June 2020, for unit 3 in March 2021, and for unit 4 in July 2022. Completion of unit 1 is expected in the third quarter of 2023. Rosatom is constructing the reactors according to a build-own-operate model. To date, the project is fully funded by the Russian side. However, Rosatom has the right to sell a share of up to 49% in the project to other investors.
Image: Installation of the roof of the turbine building of unit 1 at Akkuyu NPP (courtesy of Akkuyu Nuklear)
