A core catcher for the second power unit was delivered to the Akkuyu NPP under construction

The “catcher” is a steel cone vessel of 169 tons, which, in case of an emergency, will reliably contain the reactor corium and prevent radioactive substances from leaving the containment of the reactor shop. The core catcher height is 5.8 m, its diameter is 6.1 m.

The designers of JSC CONCERN TITAN-2 Technical Directorate Process Division developed the equipment unloading design. They planned the handling operations, calculated jetty loads, designed load-gripping devices, prepared WEP, which was duly approved by the Customer and issued for implementation.

“The unloading was successful. We completed the works two times faster than it had been planned, within 24 hours. A powerful mobile crane with a lifting capacity of up to 400 tons was deployed prior to the arrival of the much-awaited heavy-weight cargo. We are fully ready to receive further bulky cargoes – steam generators and a reactor pressure vessel,” noted Serge Golovatsky, JSC CONCERN TITAN-2 Deputy Director for Materials and Machinery Supply and Logistics.

JSC CONCERN TITAN-2 Logistics Unit is not just highly experienced in transporting complex bulky cargoes, but possesses a sizeable infrastructure and resources represented as a warehouse base, mechanization divisions with own special machinery fleet.

“The cargo was transported directly from the JSC TYAZHMASH’s manufacturing plant shop in Syzran to the Akkuyu NPP construction site in the Republic of Turkey. We managed to effectively agree upon its international delivery due to good understanding of foreign trade schemes and customs clearance rules. The cargo travelled a long way along the Volga River, the Volga-Don canal, the Azov Sea, the Kerch Strait, the Black Sea and arrived to the Mediterranean Sea via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles Straits, where we received it on the Akkuyu jetty at the Eastern (Vostochny) cargo terminal,” said Serkan Kose, Chief Specialist of TITAN2 IC İÇTAŞ İNŞAAT ANONİM ŞİRKETİ Logistics Division.

The core catcher installation in the Akkuyu NPP second power unit is scheduled for November 2020. After the installation completion, the core catcher weight, including its internal equipment, will be 668 tons.

Background Information:

Holding TITAN-2 is a Russian group of companies building nuclear facilities. Holding companies perform a full cycle of work - from the development of design documentation to the commissioning of the facility.

Holding TITAN-2 is a general contractor for the construction of new power units of the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant. Holding companies perform all general construction, installation and electrical work at the construction site.

The Holding is a main contractor for the construction of the Hanhikivi 1 NPP in Finland and the Akkuyu NPP in the Republic of Turkey.