Monday, 7 April 2025
The feedwater reserve tank is a thick-walled vessel weighing 259 tonnes and measuring more than 40 metres in length. A supply of water for the nuclear power plant feed pumps is stored in the feedwater tank during the plant commissioning and operation stages. The tank also accepts water discharged from other components of the turbine hall equipment, such as the moisture separator reheaters and the high-pressure heater.
(Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)
The large-scale dimensions of the feedwater reserve tank make it possible to transport and move the tank by lifting equipment only in parts. Two half-housings of the tank were delivered to the Akkuyu plant construction site and transported to the installation site. The assembly will be completed after the equipment is installed on the supports provided by the project.
(Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)
The feedwater reserve tank, which is an important component of the turbine heat exchange equipment, was transported to the turbine building on an automatic wheeled platform. Then workers moved the tank to the turbine maintenance level using a self-propelled crawler crane with a lifting capacity of 1300 tonnes.
“We are gradually preparing the turbine hall of Akkuyu NPP unit 3 for the installation of the turbine plant main equipment,” said Akkuyu Nuclear JSC CEO Sergei Butckikh. “The main technological elevation of the building located at a height of 18.2 metres from ground level is ready to withstand heavy equipment loads, so the feedwater tank was transported to the turbine hall immediately after unloading at the Eastern cargo terminal and completing the necessary customs procedures. After installing the special supports, the specialists will move it to its design location and weld the two parts of the body.”
(Image: Akkuyu Nuclear)
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 feedwater reserve tank – manufactured by ZiO–Podolsk Plant, part of Rosatom’s Machine Building Division – is designed to be operational for the entire life cycle of the VVER-1200 reactor power units.
