Commissioning of Akkuyu NPP to begin this year

2 March 2023


Rosatom in the third quarter of this year will begin work on the commissioning unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP under construction in Turkey. Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev made the announcement during a visit to the construction site. He was accompanied by the Director General of Project Company Akkuyu Nukleer, Anastasia Zoteeva, and other construction managers. Following talks with Turkish Minister of Energy & Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez Likhachev also had meetings with representatives of Turkish contracting organisations involved in construction and installation work at the NPP site. Discussion included project financing, plans for the construction of a residential town for plant operators, fuel deliveries and the possibilities for participation of Turkish companies in other foreign projects of Rosatom.

“All Rosatom’s obligations are being met and, in the spring, fresh nuclear fuel will be delivered to the station,” Likhachev noted. “After that, the Akkuyu NPP site will receive the formal status of a nuclear power plant. This will be a major event for the global nuclear industry. In the third quarter, general construction work will be completed at unit 1 and we will move on to commissioning. Then, within a few months, in accordance with IAEA requirements, we will begin testing equipment and fuel loading. This is an ambitious schedule, but we will strictly adhere to it.”

Akkuyu is Turkey's first NPP and will eventually host four units of Russian-designed VVER-1200 reactors. The pouring of first concrete for unit 1 took place in April 2018, for unit 2 in June 2020, for unit 3 in March 2021, and for unit 4 in July 2022. Rosatom is building the reactors under a build-own-operate model. The 4800MWe plant when completed is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. Under the governmental agreement between Russia and Turkey, unit 1 must be commissioned within seven years of obtaining all construction authorisations and licences. As the construction licence for unit 1 was obtained in 2018, the formal deadline is 2025. However, project stakeholders are making every effort to complete the unit and ensure its readiness for commissioning in 2023, which is Turkey’s jubilee year.


Image: Rosatom's Director General Alexey Likhachev meets with representatives of Turkish contracting organisations involved in construction and installation work at the Akkuyu NPP site (courtesy of Akkuyu Nukleer)



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