One more step has been left behind in establishing the water drainage system at the construction site of the 1st power unit of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NGS). With the completed operation, the drainage channel and the siphon well, which will allow the discharge of desalinated seawater after cooling the nuclear power plant equipment, are combined.
The creation of the water discharge system stands out as one of the most important phases of Akkuyu NPP in the construction of its high-tech coastal facilities. The construction of drainage channels and siphon wells in the 1st and 2nd power units of Akkuyu NPP is carried out in parallel. In the construction of these facilities, 700 workers and specialists who work continuously in shifts are employed.
Siphon wells allow the water flow to be mixed as well as to stabilize the temperature of the water from the condenser and other nuclear power plant cooling systems before it is discharged into the drainage channel. 17 thousand 600 cubic meters of concrete will be poured in the construction of the siphon well, and more than 40 thousand cubic meters of concrete will be poured in the construction of the drainage canal. When its construction is completed, the canal will be approximately 950 meters long.
The channel, which is connected to each other with special compensator joints and consists of 34 separate sections, will also be resistant to external factors such as air temperature changes, seismic events, landslides, thanks to its design.
Anastasia Zoteeva, General Manager of AKKUYU NÜKLEER A.Ş, made the following statement regarding the issue. “The high-tech coastal hydrotechnical structures of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant are a unique facility designed by Turkish and Russian experts. The construction of the coastal facilities, which will provide the nuclear power plants with the water necessary to cool the thermal mechanical equipment, is one of the most important steps in the operation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. I would like to draw attention to that; seawater is not used directly for the cooling of the reactor. Therefore, seawater is transferred to turbine condensers to cool the steam in the secondary cycle without exposure to radiation. We would like to thank our employees who completed the important phase of the water discharge system of the nuclear power plant, for their professionalism and excellent work!”
Before the construction of the coastal facilities at the Akkuyu NPP site, many detailed studies were carried out meticulously on the engineering preparations of the region where these structures will be located and the creation of the coastline. After the soil was strengthened, the construction of siphon wells and canals began. In the next stage, tunnels and pipelines will be built.
Information note: Coastal hydrotechnical structures are designed for seawater cooling of Akkuyu NPP main equipment. A water intake facility with a total capacity of 334 cubic meters will be built as part of the structures. This facility will consist of 9 concrete inlet channels and a water inlet pool. After the water is used in the cooling system of the power plant, it will be poured back into the sea through 10 prefabricated fiberglass pipelines with a total length of 2 km and a diameter of 4 to 10 m2.
A double-circuit system is used in modern nuclear power plants with VVER-1200 reactors. In the reactor, the heat from the first circuit, where the water circulates with the water pumps and which is closed, is transferred to the water of the second circuit, which boils and turns into steam and turns the turbine. The steam coming out of the turbine is converted back to liquid form after it enters the condenser. The water from the first circuit does not come into contact with the water of the second circuit in any way, so that the water discharged into the sea does not cause radioactive pollution in any way.
All structures of the nuclear power plant are designed to withstand destructive external factors, including earthquakes up to magnitude 9.
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