The installation of four main pump units of the
process water supply system completed at the onshore pumping station of Akkuyu
NPP Unit 2 (Türkiye, under construction by Rosatom). Centrifugal pumps will supply seawater to the turbine unit's condenser
cooling system. Reliable operation of the pumps will provide for effective
cooling of the turbine hall equipment and the stability of the turbine unit in
general.
Onshore pump stations use the largest pumps being operated at the NPP. Components of pump units, the total height of which is comparable to the height of a five-story house, are placed on different levels; the lower part of the pump is mounted at 21 meters below ground level, and the 6,500 kW electric motors are mounted at minus 5 meters. The design solution makes it possible to protect the pump station equipment from any external factors, including floods and tsunamis.
During the operation of the power unit, powerful pumps will perform an important function of cooling the turbine unit's condenser, thereby maintaining stable and efficient operation of the NPP. The total capacity of the four pumps will be 260,000 cubic meters of water per hour – a volume of water enough to fill up about a hundred Olympic swimming pools.
"The on-shore pumping station is one of the most important elements of the power unit's infrastructure. The completion of the installation of the main circulation pumps allows us to proceed to the next stages of preparation of service cooling water systems. In parallel with the active stage of preparation for commissioning operations at Unit 1, we continue to develop engineering systems that will ensure reliable operation of other Akkuyu NPP units," said Akkuyu Nuclear JSC CEO Sergei Butckikh.
The main equipment of the Akkuyu NPP will be cooled by water from the Mediterranean Sea. For this purpose, a complex of offshore and onshore hydraulic engineering structures is being built at the site, including four onshore pumping stations (one for each power unit), intake and spillway structures, a distribution chamber, siphon wells, and drainage channels.
Akkuyu NPP is the first nuclear power plant being built in the Republic of Türkiye. The Akkuyu NPP project includes four power units equipped with Generation 3+ VVER reactors of Russian design. The capacity of each power unit is 1200 MW. Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate business model.
