Atommash, part of the Volgodonsk branch of Russia's AEM Technology, is ready to ship four steam generators to unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant under construction in Turkey. The equipment, each weighing 355 tonnes, will be transported 3000 km by ship to the construction site in Mersin province, in the south of the country.

Atommash described the steam generators as the most important items of equipment for the primary reactor circuit. Comprising four VVER-1200 units, the Akkuyu NPP project will be the first in the global nuclear industry to be implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.

Andrey Nikipelov, general director of Atomenergomash, the parent company of AEM Technology, said yesterday: "In 2020, Atommash has been dispatching reactor vessels and steam generators at a rate that was unprecedented even in Soviet times: A total of three reactor vessels and 17 steam generators are going to customers in Russia, India, Bangladesh and Turkey this year." He added: "Our equipment is already in operation or planned for installation on three out of six continents."

The Akkuyu NPP is expected to generate about 35 terawatt hours of power each year, enough to provide 90% of the annual electricity demand of a large city such as Istanbul, and to meet up to 10% of the electricity needs of the whole of Turkey.

Turkey aims to bring unit 1 online in 2023, the centenary of its foundation as a republic.