The 350-tonne reactor pressure vessel for Akkuyu NPP Unit 3 was shipped by sea from the Atommash plant in Volgodonsk and delivered to the site's Eastern Cargo Terminal in November 2023.
The 350-tonne reactor pressure vessel for Unit 3 of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was delivered to the site by sea in November 2023. Rosatom announced the delivery on 9 November 2023 (Source: Atom Media). The giant component arrived at the site's Eastern Cargo Terminal.
11.4 metres long, 350 tonnes in weight
The reactor pressure vessel is 11.4 metres long and 5.7 metres wide, with a weight of 350 tonnes. It was manufactured at Atommash, the Volgodonsk branch of AEM-Technologies in Russia, and shipped to the Akkuyu site by sea (Source: World Nuclear News). Moving a component of this scale from factory to plant site was recorded as one of the largest heavy-equipment logistics operations of the project.
Stored under special conditions until installation
After arriving on site, the reactor pressure vessel was stored under special conditions until its installation date. Akkuyu Nuclear JSC also officially announced the site delivery of the Unit 3 reactor pressure vessel (Source: Akkuyu Nuclear JSC).
A critical operation in heavy-equipment logistics
Transporting components weighing hundreds of tonnes, such as reactor pressure vessels, requires meticulous planning of specialised vessel loading, port handling and on-site heavy haulage. In such oversized and heavy cargo operations, routes, equipment and storage conditions are defined in advance down to the finest detail. The November 2023 delivery stood out as an example of the scale of these requirements.
Key points of the delivery:
- The 350-tonne reactor pressure vessel reached the Akkuyu site in an operation announced on 9 November 2023.
- The vessel is 11.4 metres long and 5.7 metres wide.
- It was manufactured at the AEM-Technologies Atommash facility in Volgodonsk.
- Transport was carried out by sea, with delivery to the site's Eastern Cargo Terminal.
- The component was stored on site under special conditions until its installation date.
The arrival of this component — effectively the heart of Unit 3 — was regarded as an important stage in the Akkuyu project's equipment supply and construction schedule as of November 2023.