It will be used to load and replace nuclear fuel and will be able to operate even during a strong earthquake
Rosatom has completed the shipment of a complete set of reloading machine equipment for the first power unit of the Akkuyu NPP, which is being built in Turkey according to a Russian design. The earthquake-resistant refueling machine is designed to load nuclear fuel into the reactor core and replace spent fuel with fresh fuel. The machine was completely manufactured at Russian enterprises, shipments to Turkey were carried out from September 2023 to June 2024.
The reloading machine combines mechanical, lifting, electrical devices, a control system and must have high accuracy to perform work in a nuclear reactor. Requirements for the error of the machine reaching a given coordinate — no more than 2 mm. It must function safely even during a strong earthquake. All these requirements were met during its production, Rosatom noted.
Akkuyu NPP — the first nuclear power plant to be built in Turkey and the largest nuclear construction project in the world to date. The project includes four power units with Russian-designed VVER generation 3+ reactors. The capacity of each nuclear power plant unit will be 1.2 thousand MW. The first of them is planned to launch this year, and all four should be operational by 2028.