Personnel for the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey have begun their training at the Technical Academy of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, the Academy announced on 5 July.
Over the next six months, the Academy will train more than 70 Turkish nuclear scientists. Training on six nuclear power plant personnel training programmes will be conducted in Russian.
The course includes theoretical classes at the Obninsk site of the Rosatom Technical Academy (RTA) and an internship at nuclear utility Rosenergoatom’s Leningrad and Kalinin power plants.
“Turkish students - graduates of the Institute of Nuclear Power Engineering, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI - have returned to Obninsk as employees of the Akkuyu Nuklear project company,” said project manager Natalya Shulepova. Currently, young specialists are undergoing entry procedures to assess their knowledge and psycho-physiological examinations. The training programme for the first groups will continue until the end of this year when they will be required to take an exam.
The $22bn Akkuyu NPP will comprise four power units with Russian VVER-1200 reactors. Turkey aims to commission the first unit in 2023. Under the service contract, RTA will train 1300 Turkish specialists to work on these units by 2023.
