uly 23, 2019, Büyükeceli, Province of Mersin, Turkey - Director General of Rosatom Atomic Energy Corporation Alexey Likhachev and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez held a working meeting at the construction site of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in the Turkish province of Mersin.
The parties acknowledged the progress of the construction works, discussed localization of supplies and involvement of Turkish companies in the project, possible participation of external investors in the AKKUYU NUCLEAR share capital, as well as the connection of the future NPP to the national power grid.
Alexey Likhachev and Fatih Dönmez noted the strategic importance of the Akkuyu NPP project for both Turkey and Rosatom.
“The construction of the Akkuyu NPP is being carried out with a high level of cooperation. The Akkuyu project is being implemented according to the schedule. The construction works on the site are conducted in line with operational and safety requirements and standards established by the International Atomic Energy Agency”, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Fatih Dönmez commented.
“The Akkuyu NPP construction project is unique because of its build-own-operate model. For the first time in the history of the global nuclear sector, a company assumed responsibility for all stages of the power plant’s life cycle, from design and construction to maintenance and decommissioning. This predefines our strategic approach to the project, and the fact that we are discussing future power plant operation issues and its connection to the national grid of Turkey at such an early stage, - the General Director of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Alexey Likhachev noted. - We also pay great attention to the development of cooperation with Turkish contractors and suppliers, as well as the training of the local specialists, because Turkish employees and companies will be involved in the NPP operations at all stages of its life cycle".
In the framework of the meeting, in presence of the Head of Rosatom and the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, a contract for engineering, procurement of equipment and construction of Akkuyu NPP facilities (EPC contract) has been signed. The agreements was stipulated between Akkuyu Nuclear JSC as the commissioner and TİTAN2 İC İÇTAŞ İNŞAAT ANONİM ŞİRKETİ – a joint venture of the Russian “CONCERN TITAN-2” JSC and the Turkish construction company İC İçtaş İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., as the contractor.
The EPC contract provides for the full cycle of works related to the construction of the main part of the NPP facilities, which allows to apply a holistic approach in terms of design, engineering, supply of equipment, quality control and safety of construction works, and project implementation schedule.
For reference
The Turkish party of the joint venture, İC İçtaş İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., is a leading construction company in Turkey with over 45 years of history. The company has extensive, widely diversified international experience in the field of construction of large-scale infrastructure facilities.
TITAN-2 Holding is a Russian group which operates in the field of nuclear power facilities construction. JSC "CONCERN TITAN-2" is the general contractor for the construction of new power units of the Leningradskaya NPP, implementing all general construction, installation and electrical works. The holding is also the main contractor for the construction of the Hanhikivi 1 NPP in Finland.
Akkuyu NPP is the first-ever nuclear power plant to be built in the Republic of Turkey. The project is implemented pursuant to the Intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at the Akkuyu site in Turkey, concluded between the Government of the Russian Federation and Government of the Republic of Turkey on May 12, 2010. The project stipulates the construction of four power units with Russian-made 3+ generation VVER reactors. The capacity of each NPP power unit will be 1200 MW. Currently the project is completely financed by the Russian party. The State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom is the majority shareholder of AKKUYU NUCLEAR company which has undertaken the obligations for design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of the NPP. Akkuyu NPP is the first project in the global nuclear industry being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model.