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 4,800 MW, are 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 helps 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.

The Fortec+ system adds a fourth step, consisting of 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 and 6 are the first reactors of Hualong One, based on a 100% Chinese design. Each reactor has a capacity of 1,000 MW, with operations scheduled to begin in 2019 and 2022.

Dextra has been present on-site since the construction of Reactor 5 began in 2015 and is now involved in Reactor 6.

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

Griptec is the preferred rebar splicing solution in the nuclear industry due to its unique performance level and automatic testing process, which systematically tests all connections as part of its standard cycle—guaranteeing that 100% of the connections exceed project requirements.

More than a million Griptec connections will be used over the years for these two projects, supported by two Griptec machines installed on-site.

Dextra is also supporting the contractor teams on-site with two Dextra engineers rotating to provide operator training, setup, and preventive maintenance services. This ensures optimal production day and night, especially during 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 following the groundbreaking ceremony held in 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 to connect 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, metro systems, nuclear reactors, and more.

Unit 3 is scheduled for completion in March 2023, with Unit 4 following in the subsequent year.

Upon completion, these two reactors will add 2,000 MW of electricity to the existing units, bringing the total site capacity to 4,000 MW.

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.

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

A total of six reactors are expected to be operational at the Fangchenggang site. Units 1 and 2 are both CPR-1000 reactors, while Units 3 and 4 are Hualong One reactors. The planned Units 5 and 6 are also expected to be Hualong One reactors.

Construction of Unit 3 began in December 2015, followed by Unit 4 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 high performance in tension, compression, and fatigue, thanks to its unique design that meets the world’s most stringent project specifications, particularly for nuclear reactor construction.