Construction workers started pouring concrete into the foundation slab of the turbine hall building at Akkuyu NPP Unit 4 construction area. To ensure maximum strength, 17,500 cubic meters of concrete and 3,500 tons of reinforcement will be placed in the foundation slab. Concrete foundation height will be 7 meters.
The foundation plate of the building, in which the turbine plant will be located, consists of 12 zones, the so-called pours. 680 cubic meters of concrete will be laid in the first one, and after that turbine generator plant main cooling water system will be installed. It consists of preassembled 3-meters diameter pipelines.
The start of concreting was preceded by the foundation pit preparation including construction of the concrete bedding of the foundation with a volume of 38,000 cubic meters of concrete, the installation of waterproofing and reinforcement of the foundation slab. 450 workers and specialists are involved in the concreting work, which is carried out in two shifts. The total area of the foundation slab of turbine hall building, which is one of the most important Unit 4 facilities, is almost 6,000 square meters.
“The foundation being laid under the turbine plant is a complex structure capable of accepting and evenly distributing the loads during the turbine plant operation. Foundation construction will be carried out in stages. Each separate stage is subject to strict requirements as per the quality of concrete. Like all technological solutions used in the Akkuyu NPP construction, the process of Unit 4 turbine hall building foundation slab concreting is carried out in accordance with the IAEA safety standards, provisions of the legislation of the Republic of Turkey and the modern requirements of the global nuclear community,” AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC CEO Anastasia Zoteeva noted.
After the concrete reaches its design strength, a special commission consisting of the representatives of Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) and an independent construction inspection organization, will check the quality of the concrete. After that, Unit 4 turbine hall building foundation slab construction will be considered as completed.
The building houses systems and equipment related to the power output. They include the turbine plant, deaerator (a device for purifying water from gas impurities), feed pumps and auxiliary equipment. Turbine hall building is part of the secondary circuit, where the thermal energy of water vapor is converted into rotational energy, and then into electrical energy in the generator.
In October 2021, AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC received construction license for Unit 4. The document allows to start all construction and installation works at the Unit, including nuclear safety related facilities. The construction and installation works are now being carried out simultaneously at the construction areas og all four Akkuyu NPP power units. In parallel, general-purpose buildings and auxiliary facilities necessary for the NPP operation are being erected.