Russia’s AEM Technologies Volgodonsk branch on 12 February completed a key stage in the manufacture of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Turkey.
Specialists welded the closing seam by connecting two halves of the body into a single component.
The welding took ten days with continuous heating of the weld zone to a temperature of 150 to 300 degrees Celsius.
After welding operations were complete, the RPV, weighing 320 tonnes was placed in a furnace using a crane, where it will will be heat treated for two days.
Experts will then conduct a full range of control operations of the weld, including X-ray inspection.
AEM Technologies (part of Atomenergomash, the engineering division of state nuclear corporation Rosatom) is also manufacturing the internals for the RPV, as well as the reactor lid and the upper block.
The intergovernmental agreement for the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in Mersin province was signed by Turkey and Russia in 2010. The plant will comprise four VVER-1200 reactors with a total installed capacity of 4800MWe, and is planned to be commissioned in 2023.
The project Akkuyu nuclear power project currently funded by Rosatom, is the world’s first nuclear plant to be constructed using a Build-Own-Operate arrangement.
Photo: The reactor pressure vessel for unit 1 of Akkuyu nuclear plant (Credit: AEM Technologies)
