On December 10, 2017, a ceremony was held at the Akkuyu NPP site to begin construction under the Limited Construction Permit (LSP) issued by the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK).
The event was attended by Director General of Rosatom State Corporation Alexey Likhachev and First Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey Fatih Dönmez.
Concreting the base of the “nuclear island” facilities is an important stage of the preparatory work. As part of the ORS, construction and installation work is carried out at all nuclear power plant facilities, with the exception of buildings and structures related to the safety of the “nuclear island”.
“Local residents are present at the ceremony today, and I take this opportunity to tell you: “Thank you for your support!” Rosatom decided to create the Akkuyu NPP Public Council for ongoing dialogue and joint participation in the implementation of the project. We have almost 100 years of cooperation ahead, until the station will provide Turkey with clean electricity,” said Alexey Likhachev.
On December 2, 2017, preparation of the foundation slab for the reactor building of the station’s power unit No. 1 was completed. A Turkish company was involved in the work and completed it exactly on schedule.
In addition to construction work, environmental monitoring activities continue at the site: seismological and meteorological parameters, the state of groundwater and the marine environment are monitored on a regular basis. All work on the construction of the Akkuyu NPP is carried out in accordance with Turkish legislation, with the direct participation and approval of the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency.
The implementation of the project opens up significant opportunities for Turkish suppliers. According to preliminary estimates, the Turkish side will be able to carry out about 35-40% of all work on the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, which is equivalent to an amount of 6-8 billion US euros. More than 350 Turkish companies have applied to be included in the list of potential suppliers, the first of which have already received orders for the preparation of nuclear power plant infrastructure. To date, the total number of personnel at the site is more than 300 people, of which 90% are Turkish citizens, recruited to work from the nearby settlements of Buyukedzheli, Silivke, Tasucu, Aydinzhik. Highly qualified engineering and technical services specialists were invited to work from Turkish companies that built the largest energy and industrial facilities in the Republic of Turkey.
In March 2018, Akkuyu Nuclear JSC plans to obtain a construction license, after which concreting of the foundation slab (“first concrete”) will take place. This will mark the official start of construction of the Akkuyu NPP.
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The project to construct Turkey's first nuclear power plant is being implemented on the basis of an Intergovernmental Agreement signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey in May 2010. On October 13, 2011, TAEK transferred the current site license to Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, and in November 2013 approved an updated fundamental report on the site, completed within the framework of the terms of the site license in relation to the construction of the Akkuyu NPP with an installed capacity of 4,800 MW. On December 1, 2014, the Ministry of Environment and Urban Development of the Republic of Turkey approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the nuclear power plant developed by Akkuyu Nuclear JSC. On February 9, 2017, TAEK agreed on the parameters of the Akkuyu NPP site, after which on March 3, 2017, an application for a construction license was submitted to the Agency. On October 19, 2017, Akkuyu Nuclear JSC received a limited construction permit (LCP) from TAEK, which is the first step towards obtaining a License for the construction of a nuclear power plant. The ORS allows for the construction of the foundation pit for power unit No. 1 to begin before reaching the design elevation, the installation of the foundation slab for the main and auxiliary buildings and structures, the vertical planning of the project site, the backfilling of Akkuyu Bay to an elevation of +10.5 meters, the construction of the Zapadny and Zapadny cargo terminals. "Vostochny", the construction of eastern and southern drainage canals, the construction of temporary buildings and structures, a fire station, fire-fighting water tanks and a fire-fighting pumping station.
Akkuyu Nuclear JSC is a company created in 2010 to implement the project for the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in the south of Turkey in the province of Mersin. The VVER-1200 power units of the Akkuyu NPP belong to the most modern developments of generation III+ with enhanced safety systems that meet all existing requirements. This is a serial Russian nuclear power plant project based on the Novovoronezh NPP-2 project (Russia, Voronezh region), the first unit of which was put into operation on August 5, 2016. After completion of construction, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will generate about 35 billion kWh per year. The service life will be at least 60 years.
