Rosatom’s Uralkhimmash (Ural Chemical Engineering Plant) has shipped sets of hydraulic tanks for the passive core flooding system unit 3 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Türkiye. The delivery includes 12 sets of equipment with a total weight of more than 740 tonnes. The hydraulic tanks are the most important elements of the NPP safety system. In the event of a possible accident at the station, hydraulic tanks automatically supply a boric acid solution to the reactor to cool its core. This significantly increases the safety level of nuclear power plants, eliminating the human factor and the need for an energy source to start. The volume of one hydraulic tank is 120 cubic metres.
“The production of equipment for the nuclear industry is one of the priority areas of Uralkhimmash. Cooperation on the supply of products to Türkiye began in 2020. In total, 36 sets were shipped to the customer under the contract, the project is planned to be completed in 2025,” commented Roman Zaripov, director of project management at Uralkhimmash JSC.
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.
