In July last year, the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) discovered cracks in the concrete foundation of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is being built by Akkuyu Nuikar, which is built by Rosatom, revealed cracks, RBC reported with reference to the Turkish edition Haberturk. According to the Turkish edition, the foundation zone was divided into areas into which concrete was poured. However, some of them, as TAEK later discovered, had cracks. The problem areas of the basement were broken, the concrete was reloaded. After that, the regulator again found the cracks, and the company again had to redo the design. Now work on pouring the foundation on which the reactor will be located has been completed, writes Haberturk.

Akkuyu is a nuclear power plant that Rosatom is building in the Turkish province of Mersin on the shores of the Mediterranean. The design capacity of the four power units is 4.8 GW. The agreement on the construction of the Moscow and Ankara station was officially concluded in May 2010. The start of the actual construction of the nuclear power plant in April 2018 was given by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Then Putin expressed the hope that the project will be completed in 2023. Akkuyu should become the first nuclear power plant in Turkey and provide up to 10% of the country's electricity needs. The cost of the project, according to Rosatom estimates, will be about $ 20 billion.

The cracks in the foundation appeared during the selection of the concrete mix at the experimental site, during the test concrete pouring, which is a normal working process, a source in the state corporation told Vedomosti. He noted that as a result of this work, the composition of the concrete mix was selected, which excludes the further occurrence of cracks in the station foundation.

$ 130-140 billion

the portfolio of Rosatom's foreign orders, said in April 2019 the first deputy head of the corporation, Kirill Komarov.
Rosatom's revenue abroad in 2018 amounted to more than $ 6.5 billion

The station is being built in accordance with the highest safety standards, construction work at the site is controlled by TAEK representatives, a representative of Akkuyu Nuikar told Vedomosti. According to him, the concreting of the foundation of the first power unit was completed on March 8, 2019. More than 17,000 cubic meters were laid in the design of the foundation slab. m self-compacting concrete capable of spreading and compacted under its own weight, while maintaining the reliability and uniformity of the composition, said the source. The next step will be the construction of external and internal walls of the reactor building. All work will continue in accordance with the schedule, he stressed.

Now there are no cracks in the foundation, construction is proceeding as planned, a representative of Rusatom Energy International (managing Rosatom's foreign projects for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants) told Vedomosti. The incident did not affect the construction schedule and the cost of work, he said: “This is a normal practice, especially in the first block. We have three more to build there. Having understood the technology of laying concrete in this climate, in this place, we will be able to take all the lessons from this and go to the schedule. ”

The crack was formed in the test section of the foundation, says Maxim Khudalov, director of the ACRA corporate rating group. This is a standard practice when, during the construction of a complex industrial facility, the concrete foundation for the foundation is selected and tested: it must withstand the unique load conditions of the industrial facility. This crack should not affect the construction and operation of the power plant, the expert concludes.

Representatives of the Ministry of Energy and TAEK did not respond to requests from Vedomosti.