Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear plant achieves key milestone with dome installation

The inner containment dome has been installed at the second unit of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu. The milestone was achieved by Rosatom, the project’s developer, and marks a key step in the plant’s construction. Akkuyu Nuclear JSC CEO Sergei Butskikh confirmed the successful completion of the operation. The dome was lifted into place using a heavy-duty crawler crane. The process took around seven hours and involved a team of over 40 specialists. Before the lift, the structure was pre-assembled near the reactor building over four months, consisting of 15 separate sections.

The inner containment dome features a steel lining and special concrete, ensuring the reactor compartment remains leak-tight. It is part of a double containment system, with the outer layer made of reinforced concrete to resist external impacts. Rosatom is constructing four VVER-1200 units at Akkuyu, each with two containment buildings.

Turkey’s nuclear regulator granted a permit for commissioning work on the second unit last month. The next phase includes welding the dome into position and continuing reinforcement and concreting of the containment structure. Once fully operational, the 4,800 MWe plant is set to supply about 10% of Turkey’s electricity. The installation of the dome brings the second unit closer to completion. Further work will focus on securing and finalising the containment system.