The Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies (part of Rosatom’s mechanical engineering division, Atomenergomash) said on 28 April it had manufactured and shipped the internals of the first nuclear reactor for unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkey.

The internals include an 11-metre internal shaft, a baffle and a block of protective pipes. The total weight of the internals is over 210 tonnes.

From the site of the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-technology, the equipment was sent by road to the plant's special berth where they were loaded onto a barge using a 650-ton gantry crane for the 3,000 km trip to the Akkuyu NPP construction site. The Akkuyu NPP construction project is being implemented by Akkuyu Nuclear following an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russian and Turkey in 2010. The Akkuyu NPP, with four VVER-1200 units, is being constructed on a build-own-operate basis by Rosatom, with commissioning of the first unit planned for 2023.