Part-1: Turkey's Nuclear Energy Journey - Brief Information on the Akkuyu NPP
Today, I would like to provide you with information about the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which I believe is a crucial step for Turkey. In the history of the Republic of Turkey, there have been various initiatives in the field of nuclear technology since the 1960s-1970s. However, we might be witnessing the most promising era for these initiatives to succeed. In 2010, with the international agreement between Russia and Turkey, Turkey is no longer far from nuclear technology and a nuclear power plant. Today, I would like to briefly share information on this topic. Happy reading!
Project Description:
The project involves the construction of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in the Gülnar district of Mersin Province within the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. It encompasses structures and facilities to be established on land and in areas to be filled from the sea, including breakwaters, loading and unloading areas, technical buildings, common unit facilities, control units, protection systems, hydrotechnical facilities, energy transmission and pipeline systems, living facilities, and other technical infrastructure. It comprises a total of four main power units.
Project Area and Map:
The location of the project area is depicted on the photo-2:
Government Vision:
The 2023 vision of the Republic of Turkey's Government is to include the country in the world's top 10 economies and to distinguish itself as a regional power by leveraging its strategic position as an energy corridor.
Nuclear Power Plant History:
There have been attempts to establish nuclear power plants in Turkey since 1970, but these efforts ended in failure. On May 12, 2010, an intergovernmental agreement was signed between the Russian and Turkish Governments to establish a Nuclear Power Plant consisting of four units with a total capacity of 1,200 MW each, using VVER/AES 2006 technology.
Collaboration Model and Agreement:
The Akkuyu NGS Project will be established using the "build-own-operate (BOO)" model. Russia will initially have 100% ownership of the project, and later, Turkey Electricity Trade and Contracting Inc. (TETAŞ) will purchase a specific amount of the generated power. According to the terms of the Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement between Turkey and Russia, the Turkish side will provide the necessary space for the reactors, and initially, Russia will have 100% ownership of the project. Akkuyu NPP Electricity Generation Inc. will operate the plant for 60 years, and the majority shares (51%) will always belong to the Russian side. The remaining shares (49%) may be allocated to investors in Turkey. The total cost of the project is approximately 20 billion dollars, making it Turkey's first Nuclear Power Plant.
Technical Specifications of the Project:
A nuclear power plant is a facility that utilizes the heat energy released during the controlled fission of uranium atoms under chain reaction conditions to generate electricity. The heat energy released during the reaction is transferred from the reactor core to the outside through a cooling system. This heat energy is then used for steam production through the "second circuit," and this energy is converted into mechanical energy through turbines. Electric generators mounted at the end of the turbines convert the mechanical energy into electricity.
The fundamental difference between traditional power plants and nuclear power plants lies in the source of the provided heat. While the primary source of energy in traditional power plants is the chemical combustion of fuels, in Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), energy is produced as a result of fission reactions. Enriched uranium (in the form of UO2) is used as fuel in NPP. This fuel is placed inside fuel elements in the fuel assembly. Since no chemical combustion occurs during the fission process in NPP, pollutants harmful to the air (such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides and carbon gases) are not emitted.
According to the Basic Design of the NPP, the fuel is located at the core of the reactor. Water moves upward between the fuel elements, carrying away the heat generated by fission. This water, used to draw away the heat, is referred to as the "coolant." As the heat source is radioactive, the coolant is also radioactive. This necessitates strict adherence to rules regarding the purity of water and the requirement for a closed system. The cooling water passes through the tubes of a heat exchanger called the steam generator. Inside the generator, the water in the second circuit is heated and transformed into steam, which, in turn, rotates the turbine shaft. This design ensures that the feedwater in the second circuit does not mix with the coolant in the first circuit, and the second circuit remains non-radioactive. The reactor and the first circuit are enclosed in a containment shell, and the ventilation systems inside this shell maintain pressure below atmospheric pressure. This solution prevents the uncontrolled release of contaminated air and the spread of radioactive substances to the surroundings.
The reactor vessel contains and preserves the fuel and control rods. The fundamental characteristic of any reactor is determined by its high power output. A power of 1 MWth corresponds to 3x10^16 nuclear fissions resulting from the chain reactions. The active core is located within the reactor vessel, along with the fuel elements. Each fuel element contains a specific amount of fuel rods. Control rods and related units are positioned at the top of the reactor unit. Biological shielding against external radiation is provided by the concrete reactor structure. The coolant circulates within four different circulation loops. Each loop consists of a main circulation ("circulation") pump and pipelines, ensuring the pressurized circulation of the cooling water.
The fundamental issue concerning the safe operation of NGS is the prevention of the release of radioactive substances into the environment during the combustion of fuel. A solution to this problem in NPP involves the presence of physical barriers in the design of reactor systems and units.
I'm planning to prepare a detailed blog post on this topic and share it here as Part-2. As an introduction and to provide some information about the nuclear cycle, I wanted to briefly share this. Detailed information about the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant can be obtained from the publicly available Environmental Impact Assessment (ÇED) report.
Thank you to everyone who has read up to this point. Looking forward to seeing you in the next articles...
My other blog posts:
1 - How to Earn Points on Medium of Web3 - Bulbapp.io: Tips and Recommendations
