On the 3rd of April 2018 in Gülnar Municipality (Mersin Province, Turkey) the function of first concrete was held at the construction site of Akkuyu NPP. It marked the start of large-scale work to build the first Turkish nuclear power plant being constructed by ROSATOM.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part in the function by video conference.
Addressing the gathering, Putin said: “The first unit of Akkuyu NPP must be put on line in 2023. Owing to Akkuyu project, new up-to-date well-paid jobs will be created and new cutting-edge productions and technologies will develop in Russia and Turkey. Frontline engineering solutions and economically effective and sound technologies will be used in construction. Highest safety standards and most stringent environmental requirement will be met. I am sure that in 2023 entire Turkey will feel the feedback of the energy to be generated by this plant, this high-technology facility.”
On his part, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that in 2023 by the start of NPP Turkey celebrates the declaration of the republic. “Commissioning of Akkuyu NPP in 2023 will make Turkey a member of the family of nuclear power countries. We will meet 10% of our demand in electricity owing to Akkuyu,” he said.
After welcome addresses, leaders of the two countries gave the permit to start construction and this was the start of the first concrete pouring to the basemat of Unit 1 reactor building.
The function was witnessed by 500 people who included local folks, workers, schoolchildren, local authorities, representatives of related ministries and agencies, journalists, business partners, and representatives of ROSATOM’s companies participating in the projects. Turkish young graduates of related Russian universities who had received high education certificates less than a month ago and would work soon in the project company also took part in the function.
Commenting on the event, Director General of ROSATOM Alexey Likhachev stressed: “ROSATOM will build in Turkey an up-to-date and reliable nuclear power plant of new Generation III+ with four powerful units VVER-1200 which meets all international safety requirements. In Russia we are building these new generation units in series: Novovoronezh Unit 6 was commissioned in the commercial operation and in February we put on line Leningrad Phase II’s Unit 1. Successful operation of these units confirms reliability of our technologies.”
Likhachev noted that Akkuyu NPP was a large investment project of the Russian-Turkish cooperation. “And it is important to underline that the project is implemented according to the plan and in effective cooperation with the Turkish partners,” he added.
The day before the project company JSC Akkuyu Nuclear had obtained an Akkuyu construction license from the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). Late March, the permit for construction of Unit 1’s reactor building was obtained from Gülnar local administration.
Earlier, JSC Akkuyu Nuclear received the full-fledged status of a strategic investor. The renewed certificate of a strategic investment was issued to the Project Company by a request filed to the Ministry of Economy of Turkey by the company. The certificate, in particular, provides for reduction or relief from taxes (including the profit tax and VAT) and relief from paying customs charges and duties.
For information:
The Akkuyu NPP construction project is the largest project in the history of the Russian-Turkish relations. The plant will consist of four VVER-1200 units (Generation III+ reactors) with 4.8 GW total capacity. This is a modernized series-made design of a nuclear power plant based on Novovoronezh Phase II (Russia, Voronezh Region). The project model is BOO (build-own-operate). The General Customer and Investor of the Project is JSC Akkuyu Nuclear (AKKUYU NÜKLEER ANONİM ŞİRKETİ, the company specially founded to manage the project; the Architect General is JSC Atomenergoproekt; the General Construction Constructor is JSC Atomstroyexport (both companies are part of ROSATOM’s Engineering Division); the Project Developer is JSC Rusatom Energy International. The Technical Customer is Rosenergoatom Concern JSC; the Scientific Supervisor is FSA NRC Kurchatov Institute; the licensing consultant is InterRAO-WorleyParsons. The designed period of Akkuyu NPP is 60 years with a possibility to prolong it 20 years more.
Akkuyu NPP meets all up-to-date requirements of the world nuclear community written down in the safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group and EUR Requirements. The power unit includes a reactor plant and turbine; it will be fitted with the cutting-edge active and passive safety systems to meet all potential scenarios and their combinations. All works to implement Akkuyu NPP project are carried out in close cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the independent regulator TAEK.