The Turkish authorities have granted authorization for the commissioning of the first power unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), currently under construction. This development was reported by Rosatom in their Telegram channel.
"The decision of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency of Turkey to issue a permit for the commissioning of the first unit of Akkuyu NPP confirms that we have met all the requirements of Turkish legislation, international standards of NPP construction, and are ready to move forward. We are entering a new, important, and responsible stage in the life of the project," said Anastasia Zoteeva, General Director of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, as per the report.
The next step in the process will involve obtaining a license for the operation of the first power unit. This will enable the commencement of loading nuclear fuel into the reactor and initiate pre-launch control operations. Currently, specialists are actively working on developing the necessary technical documentation required for the license application.
The Akkuyu NPP is a landmark project as the first nuclear power plant in the Republic of Turkey, constructed by the Russian state corporation Rosatom. The project comprises four power units equipped with Russian-designed VVER reactors of Generation III+. Each power unit is designed with a capacity of 1,200 MW. Notably, the construction of the Akkuyu NPP represents the inaugural implementation of the Build-Own-Operate model in the global nuclear industry.
As per the terms outlined in the intergovernmental agreement, the commissioning of the first power unit of the NPP is scheduled to occur within seven years from the acquisition of all necessary permits for its construction. Considering that the construction license for Unit 1 was obtained in 2018, this timeline sets the deadline for commissioning in 2025.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: RIA Novosti archive/Sergey Venyavsky/Creative Commons 3.0
Based on materials from TASS