Sergei Butskikh, Director General of project company Akkuyu Nukleer, reported on the main stages of the project in 2024. He spoke in detail about the commissioning work, the degree of readiness of auxiliary facilities, the main construction and installation operations at unit 1, as well as plans for the coming year.
This year, a number of key operations were completed, primarily the beginning of full-scale commissioning. All the main equipment of the reactor unit has been installed in the reactor compartment, preparations are underway for pre-launch tests with loading of nuclear fuel simulators. The turbine assembly – a set of sequential operations was successfully carried out, which culminated in setting the turbine unit on a rotary device. The turbine shaft began to rotate at low speeds.
The experts carefully checked the correct alignment of all elements and confirmed the high quality of the turbine unit assembly. Successful operation demonstrated the high technical readiness of the turbine and auxiliary systems for the next key stage of the unit commissioning – cold and hot testing of the reactor unit.
Alexey Likhachev noted that 2024 a year of not only serious challenges, but also great achievements for Akkuyu 1. “Today we have witnessed one of the key events on the turbine installation site. This is a necessary step on the long road to the launch of the power unit. We will continue to make every effort to ensure that the unit is launched in the near future. It will provide stable low-carbon energy to millions of consumers.2
During the next stage, a complex of pre-launch tests will be carried out in the engine room, including testing of the sealed fence system and safety systems. After that, the turbine will be ready for complex pre-launch operations. The turbine unit consists of a combined high and medium pressure module, two low pressure modules and a generator.
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. In July Akkuyu NPP reported that some 70% of the equipment and systems installed at unit 1 had already undergone commissioning.
