Concreting has been completed of the foundation plate for the pump station at unit 3 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Türkiye. The slab foundation was divided into eight blocks. Each of them included 4-10 concreting stages, depending on the complexity. To ensure maximum strength and reliability of the slab, some 20,000 cubic metres of concrete and about 2,000 tonnes of reinforcement were used. The embedded products installed in the foundation slab structure, which will later be part of a single technological unit during the operation of the pumping station, weighed more than 65 tonnes.
“The unique aspect of the foundation plate construction is that each stage of concreting required individual engineering training,” said Sergei Butskikh, Director General of project company Akkuyu Nukleer. “Each stage had a different complex geometric configuration. For example, T plates provide suction elements for the four main pumping units. The steel collapsible auxiliary design of the suction pipe formwork was developed according to a separate project specifically for the Akkuyu nuclear units. It weighed 212.5 tonnes and the support system for the formwork of suction pipes weighed 30.5 tonnes. Heavy-duty concrete was used. Some 350 Russian and Turkish experts provided high-strength connections for all parts and elements.”
The pump station for unit 3 will consist of underground and above-ground sections. After the concrete gains design strength, Russian and Turkish experts will begin the construction of the contour and internal walls of the underground part of the building.
NPP suction stations are designed to supply sea water to the main technological workshops of the NPP and to divert heat from auxiliary equipment of the turbine building. There will be four stations – one for each reactor unit.
Akkuyu, Türkiye’s first NPP, will eventually host four 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. Rosatom is constructing the reactors according to a build-own-operate model. Unit 1 is expected to begin operation in 2025.
