Vessel for third Akkuyu reactor ready to be shipped

The steel vessel has been produced by the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies JSC of Atommash, part of Atomenergomash, the machine production division of Rosatom.

The component - 12 metres in height, 4.5 metres wide and weighing more than 330 tonnes - will be moved to the factory pier by special road transport before being loaded onto a barge for the 3000 km journey by water to the Akkuyu construction site.

"With Rosatom entering serial construction of nuclear power plants in Russia and abroad, our machine-building division has increased the volume of work manifold," said Rosatom General Director Alexey Likhachev. "Nuclear machine builders are successfully coping with this task and even reaching new records. Our project portfolio today amounts to 33 power units in 11 countries, so we still have work to do. The reliable and rhythmic work of Atommash gives us confidence that all these projects will be implemented successfully and on time, which means that we will maintain our leading position in the global nuclear market."

Workers mark the shipment of the RPV for Akkuyu 3 (Image: Rosatom)

Atomenergomash JSC Director General Igor Kotov noted this achievement of the Volgodonsk manufacturing facility is a result of ten years of modernisation and optimisation of the production processes, as well as the introduction of digital technologies. "Today, Rosatom's engineering division is a vivid example of the actual technological potential of our country and a reliable basis for further industry development," he said.

The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors, under a so-called BOO (build-own-operate) model. Construction of the first unit began in 2018. The 4800 MWe plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs, with the aim that all four units will be operational by the end of 2028.

The RPVs of units 1 and 2 were installed in June 2021 and September 2022, respectively.

"We owe much of the fast pace of the Akkuyu NPP project implementation to the leading companies of the Russian nuclear industry, including in particular Atommash," said Anastasia Zoteeva, director general of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC. "The production of five modern reactors in a year is an outstanding achievement, and we should give great credit to every employee of the manufacturing facility, to its management, and to Rosatom. I am sure that there is more to come after these five reactors, because Atommash's employees, like the employees of all Russian nuclear companies, are talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated specialists."