Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant under construction at Akkuyu, in Büyükeceli, Mersin Province, Turkey. It will be the country’s first nuclear power plant.

The four 1,200 MW VVER +3 units, with a total capacity of 4800 MW, is the world’s first nuclear power plant project implemented on BOO (build-own-operate) principles by a subsidiary of Rosatom – Akkuyu NGS Elektrik Uretim AS (Akkuyu Project Company).

Major construction of the first unit started in March 2018, and it is expected to become operational in 2023.

Construction of the second unit started 2 years later and is anticipated to be completed by 2024, with Unit 3, and 4 to follow in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

Dextra provided more than 700,000 Fortec+ couplers and lock nuts to date, along with bar end preparation equipment, for the use at all 4 reactors and ancillary areas.

Fortec+ is a parallel threaded mechanical splicing system designed especially for nuclear projects for the connection of concrete reinforcing bars from Ø12 to 50 mm (ASTM #4 to #18), in compliance with Eurocode 2, ASME Sec III Div 2.

With the addition of a lock nut, it was fully engaged onto the extended thread of the connecting bar and help eliminate the residual deformation of the splice.

10 sets of bar end preparation system machines were also delivered at the site. The bar end preparation can be achieved in 3 steps: cutting the end of the rebar, cold forging to enlarge the sawn end of the rebar, and threading.

Fortec+ system adds a fourth step, consisting in a quality testing at the end of the rebar preparation process. The threaded bar end is tensile tested at 90% of the rebar yield strength to guarantee its performance.

Photo credit: https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/construction-starts-on-2nd-unit-of-turkeys-1st-nuclear-power-plant-akkuyu?gallery_image=undefined# big (by Energya and Natural Resources Ministry)

Fuqing Reactor 5 & 6 are the first reactors of type Hualong One, based on a 100% Chinese design. Reactors have a capacity of 1,000 MW capacity, with start of operation scheduled for 2019 and 2022.

Dextra has been present on site since the beginning of the construction of the reactor 5 in 2015, and is now involved on the 6th reactor.

For this challenging project, Dextra has been supplying its Griptec rebar splicing solution, which are used for rebar splicing into the APC shell.

Griptec is the preferred rebar splicing solution of the nuclear industry thanks to its unique performance level and an automatic testing process which systematically tests all the connections produced as part of its standard cycle: a guarantee that 100% of the connections perform above project requirement.

More than a million Griptec connections will be used over the years for those two projects, supported by two Griptec equipment installed at site.

Dextra is also supporting the contractor teams at site with two Dextra engineers rotating to ensure operator training, setting and preventive maintenance services, this in order to ensure optimal production day and night thorough production peak times.

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or KKNPP) is the largest nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Two reactors (KKNPP-1 and 2) have been operating since 2013 and 2016, respectively, while two more (KKNPP-3 and 4) are currently under construction after the ground-breaking ceremony held on February 2016.

KKNPP-3 and 4 are pressurized water reactors of Russian design (model VVER-1000/V-412). These reactors are repeated designs of KKNPP-1 and 2, with further improvements based on commissioning and feedback from operational experience.

For the construction of these two units, Dextra supplied 350,000 Bartec couplers for the connection of rebars in the reactor building, auxiliary building and spent fuel storage structures.

Bartec is a trusted splicing system, well-known for its high performance in tension, compression, and fatigue. It is widely used in the construction of buildings, bridges, metros, nuclear reactors and more.

Unit 3 is scheduled to be completed in March 2023, and unit 4 in the subsequent year.

Upon its completion, these two reactors will add 2000 MW of electricity to the existing units, resulting in a total site production of 4000 MW per year.

Sources of images: https://twitter.com/daeindia/status/881395402171404288, https://www.deccanherald.com/content/619873/building-units-3-4-kudankulam.html

China is one of the world’s largest producers of nuclear power, and it’s consistently expanding its nuclear power production capacity with new reactors.

The Unit 1 and 2 of the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant have been operational since 2016, and Unit 3 and 4 are currently under construction.

A total of six reactors are anticipated to be operational at the Fangchenggang site. Units 1 and 2 are both CPR-1000 reactors, while units 3–4 are Hualong One reactors, with projected units 5-6 planned to be Hualong One reactors as well.

Unit 3 began construction in December 2015, with unit 4 following a year later. Dextra has supplied more than 500,000 sleeves of Griptec coupler for the reinforcement of the APC structure.

Griptec is well-known for its reliability and performance in tension, compression, and fatigue, thanks to the unique design of the product that complies with the world’s most stringent projects specifications, especially for nuclear reactor building construction.

The Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) is a nuclear power plant in Rawatbhata, Rajasthan, India, with 6 pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) units and a total installed capacity of 1,180 MW.

The plant’s owner and operator, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), is expanding the plant’s capacity by building 2 additional reactors, Units 7 and 8.

In July 2011, the first pour of concrete (FPC) for the 7th reactor, with a capacity of 700MW, was completed. The unit’s start-up transformer (SUT) was also commissioned.

The 8th reactor, which will similarly have a capacity of 700MW, is scheduled to be finished in December 2021.

Dextra has supplied almost 500,000 Bartec couplers for the reinforcement of reactor buildings, auxiliary buildings, and spent fuel storages.

The 2 PHWR reactors will boost the plant’s existing capacity by 1,400MW, 700MW of which will be allotted to the state of Rajasthan.

Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is a nuclear power station in India, which lies in the proximity of Surat and Tapi river in the state of Gujarat.

Unit 3&4 is India’s first pair of indigenously designed Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MW unit size located at Kakrapar in Gujarat, where two units of 220 MW PHWRs are already in operation.

First concrete for Kakrapar 3 and 4 was in November 2010 and March 2011 respectively, after Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) approval.

Since then, Dextra had supplied 540,000 Bartec rebar couplers, to connect slabs and columns of reactor and control buildings.

Moreover, Unitec bolted couplers were installed to connect rebars without the need of any thread preparation.

Finally, headed bars were mounted onto the reinforcement bar end, drastically reducing rebar congestion.

The commercial operation of Unit-3 is expected to be in March 2021 while its twin unit, Unit-4, is anticipated a year later after.

Sources of images: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakrapar_Atomic_Power_Station, https://www.nucnet.org/news/kakrapar-3-indigenous-phwr-achieves-first-criticality-7-3-2020, https://www.asiavillenews.com/article/a-look-at-the-kakrapar-3-reactor-54367