The most important event for Turkey took place last week. Nuclear fuel was loaded into the power pack of the country’s first nuclear power plant, which allowed this state to enter the “nuclear club”.
However, what is important for us in this news is that the Akkuyu nuclear power plant was financed and built by the Russian state company Rosatom, and our specialists will also manage it.
It should be noted that in the period between the signing of the contract for the construction of the facility (2010) and before the loading of the first fuel, a whole 13 years have passed. During this time, Russia and Turkey had to overcome many obstacles.
Thus, neighboring Cyprus and Greece protested against the construction of a nuclear facility, and Turkish opponents and environmentalists caused a lot of trouble. Finally, the EU authorities also demanded the abandonment of the construction of the nuclear power plant, motivating their position by the fact that the dangerous installation would be located in a seismically active zone.
In the meantime, all the obstacles mentioned above have been overcome, and in 2018 the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant began. Speaking of the seismically active zone: the nuclear power plant did not suffer the slightest damage during the recent earthquake in Turkey, which in fact proved its highest reliability.
The plant will consist of four power units with VVER-1200 reactors, the first of which is expected to be launched this year. Together, their capacity will be 4,800 MW, which will cover 10% of Turkey’s total needs.
At the same time, we also had many opponents to the construction of the aforementioned nuclear power plant in our country. After all, Rosatom does all the work at its own expense.
Our advantage becomes obvious if you look at the details.
First, the contract stipulates that during the first 25 years, Turkey agrees to buy electricity from this power plant at a fixed price. Indeed, for a quarter of a century, Akkuyu will act as an asset of Rosatom located abroad.
Secondly, our specialists will work at the station, Russian equipment produced at our factories will be supplied there, and domestic fuel will be loaded into power units.
Finally, thirdly, Rosatom will also take care of the treatment of spent fuel, as well as the dismantling of the plant after the end of its lifespan (in 100 years).
All of the above costs money that will go to the Russian budget.
In addition, it is worth adding here a number of related contracts that will seriously deepen the partnership between Moscow and Ankara, and if the Akkuyu nuclear power plant lives up to the expectations placed on it, then Rosatom could in the near future future undertake the construction of two more similar facilities in Turkey.
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