The 259-tonne, 40-metre-plus feedwater reserve tank — the first large equipment on Akkuyu Unit 3's conventional island — was moved into the turbine building in April 2025 and lifted to the 18.2-metre level.
The feedwater reserve tank — the first large piece of equipment on the conventional island side of Unit 3 of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant — was moved into the turbine building in April 2025. Weighing 259 tonnes and measuring more than 40 metres in length, the thick-walled tank could only be transported in sections, as two half-shells, because of its dimensions (Source: World Nuclear News).
Moved on an automated platform, lifted by a 1,300-tonne crane
The tank was taken into the turbine building on an automated wheeled platform and then placed at the 18.2-metre turbine maintenance level by a self-propelled crawler crane with a lifting capacity of 1,300 tonnes (Source: Nuclear Engineering International). The operation was a striking example of how special transport platforms and high-capacity cranes are used together to move components of this scale within a site.
Manufactured by ZiO-Podolsk
The feedwater reserve tank was manufactured at the ZiO-Podolsk factory, part of Rosatom's machine-building division. The tank will store a water reserve for the feed pumps during the plant's commissioning and operation phases (Source: CEENERGYNEWS).
Turbine hall being prepared for main equipment installation
Sergei Butckikh, General Director of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, said the turbine hall of Unit 3 was being progressively prepared for the installation of the main turbine equipment. Moving the first large piece of equipment into place on the conventional island was announced as one of the concrete steps in this preparation process.
Dismantling equipment into sections for transport, moving it on special platforms within the site and lifting it to elevation with high-capacity cranes are typical steps in large-piece project cargo operations. The highlights of the April 2025 tank operation were as follows:
- The tank weighs 259 tonnes and is more than 40 metres long, with a thick-walled design.
- Due to its dimensions, it could only be transported as two half-shells.
- It was moved into the turbine building on an automated wheeled platform.
- A 1,300-tonne-capacity self-propelled crawler crane lifted it to the turbine maintenance level at 18.2 metres.
- It was manufactured at the ZiO-Podolsk factory of Rosatom's machine-building division.
This first large-equipment delivery on Unit 3's conventional island was recorded, as of April 2025, as one of the developments marking the progress of the unit's turbine island installation schedule.