Russian President Vladimir Putin together with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will take part on Wednesday in a videoconference ceremony to mark the start of construction of Unit 3 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in the Turkish province of Mersin. This was reported by the Kremlin press service.
Turkey announced plans to develop nuclear power back in the early 1970s, and in 1974-1976 Soviet experts studied the site for the construction of nuclear power plants near the city of Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast. However, the Turkish leadership's plans to build the republic's first nuclear power plant were repeatedly postponed for various reasons.
The Turkish media call the start of construction of the third unit of Akkuyu a historic event. The Sabah newspaper specified that Turkey is expected to earn at least $6 billion by investing $20 billion in the NPP project during the construction phase alone. According to Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez, Ankara expects to commission the first reactor of the plant under construction in 2023, when the republic will celebrate its centenary. "After that, each subsequent power unit will be commissioned every year," he stressed. Thus, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant could start operating at full capacity as early as 2026.
While visiting Ankara in 2018, Putin noted that he would try to attend the commissioning ceremony of the first Akkuyu unit in 2023, together with Erdogan.
The country also attaches particular importance to the nuclear power plant because of the creation of new jobs. "When we start the construction of the fourth power unit, that is, the process will reach its peak, the project will employ more than 16,000 people," Donmez noted. - "And by the time the Akkuyu NPP is fully operational, it will employ at least 4,000 people".
The construction project of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey is being implemented by Akkuyu Nuklear (more than 99% of the shares are owned by the companies of Rosatom) on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in May 2010. In June 2020, the construction of the second unit of the nuclear power plant began. Once completed, the Akkuyu NPP, with an installed capacity of 4,800 MW, will generate about 35 billion kWh per year.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS