The first reactor of Turkey’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled to be operational by 2023, when the country will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the republic.
CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES AS PLANNED
“We know how important 2023 is for Turkey. We are making serious efforts to complete the first unit by then,” said Sergei Butskikh, Vice General Manager and NPP Construction Director.
Butskikh said it was a very ambitious but also achievable goal for them, adding that the work at the Akkuyu Nuclear A.S. has been proceeding as planned.
He noted works were being carried out simultaneously in almost all areas of the power plant, and said that the construction crew as well as the equipment manufacturers were working very hard to reach the targets as scheduled.
Last week, the energy and natural resources ministry announced that a construction license has also been granted for the third unit.
Butskikh also confirmed the preparatory work on the third unit and said excavations of the foundation pit will soon begin for the fourth unit. Touching on the works to be carried out at the power plant in 2021, he said next year, one of the most important events will be placing and installing the reactor vessel in the designed position in the first unit.
An intergovernmental agreement was signed between Turkey and Russia in May 2010 for Akkuyu NPP, first nuclear plant of Turkey that will have four VVER-1200 power reactors with a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts.
The plant’s groundbreaking ceremony held on April 3, 2018 with the participation of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin via video conference call from Ankara.