The main equipment commissioning phase has begun at the pump station of Power Unit 1 of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), built by Rosatom, the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation. The pumps that will enable the operation of the main cooling water pumping units and the backup diesel power plants are undergoing a series of separate load tests.
The onshore pump station is equipped with 4 powerful main cooling water pumping units. The total pumping unit capacity in normal operating mode of the power unit will be 260.000 m3/h. This volume of water will be supplied by pumps to the unit's cooling systems.
AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC General Manager Sergey Butckikh made a statement on the subject, saying, “The construction and installation work at the pump station is almost complete. Now we are starting the key stage, namely commissioning work on the main equipment. The largest pumps of the NPP are used at the onshore pump station. These pumps will provide water to all cooling systems of the power unit. Therefore, the stable operation of the pumps is extremely important for the reliable operation of all main equipment, including the reactor plant and the turbine unit. The onshore pump station stands out as a unique hydraulic engineering structure. The design solution of the station, developed in accordance with the most modern safety standards, was successfully implemented thanks to the coordinated work of the Turkish-Russian team of engineers and constructors.”
The main cooling water pumping units are located 21 meters below ground level in the building, while the 6500 kW electric motors are also located 5 meters below ground. The design solution will reliably protect the pumping station equipment from all types of external influences, including floods and tsunamis.
Experienced commissioning specialists have carried out test runs of the main cooling water pump units under load and are now carefully checking the operating parameters of the equipment.
The main equipment of Akkuyu NPP will be cooled by water from the Mediterranean. Part of the water will pass through desalination complexes. For this purpose, a complex of offshore and onshore hydraulic structures has been designed and construction has begun. The complex consists of four pumping stations, one for each unit, a drainage channel, siphon wells, a distribution chamber, a water intake and discharge structure. The complex is similar to the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in terms of its detailed structure and labor costs.
