Ankara, April 19 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that on April 27 Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in the ceremony of handing over nuclear fuel to Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant via videoconference.
It is planned to deliver nuclear fuel to the construction site of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey and place it in the new nuclear fuel storage at the site. From the moment the fuel is delivered, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will become a nuclear facility, and Turkey will do so. It has become a country where nuclear energy is present, the News Agency reported earlier in the design company “Akuyu Nuclear”.
Akkuyu NPP, which is being built with the participation of Russia, is the first nuclear power plant in Turkey. It is planned that after commissioning all four units, which will be equipped with advanced Russian VVER-1200 reactors, the plant will generate about 35 billion kilowatt-hours annually and cover up to 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs. In addition, this is the first project in the global nuclear industry to be implemented according to the “build, own and operate” model. Its cost is about $ 20 billion. Akkuyu meets all modern international safety requirements in the nuclear industry.
Construction of the first power unit at Akkuyu NPP began in April 2018, the second – in April 2020, the third – in March 2021, and the fourth – in July 2022.
Alexei Likhachev, General Director of Rosatom State Corporation, announced at the end of February this year that in the third quarter, general construction and installation work will be completed at the first unit of the Akkuyu NPP and commissioning work will begin – the final stage of construction of the power unit, which provides the basis for the safety of additional operation. During testing of technological equipment, all main systems of the power unit are started and checked.
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