It is now a fact that the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey has been given the green light to operate its first power unit.
The Turks give Rosatom permission to start operating Akkuyu's first power plant
According to Turkish sources, the authorities of the "neighbours" have granted permission for the country's first nuclear power plant's first power unit to be commissioned.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP) is being built by the Russian state-owned atomic energy company Rosatom in Mersin province on the southern Mediterranean coastline.
In a statement, Rosatom's Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, which is building the plant, said it had submitted the first batch of documents on March 17 and the second on August 24 to the Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Authority to obtain an operating license.
The procedure to be followed
The licence follows the start-up, adjustment and operation procedures, which are the final phases of the construction of the nuclear power plant for safe operation.
"The decision of the Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Authority to issue a license to operate the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant confirms that we have fulfilled all the requirements of Turkish legislation and international standards for the construction of nuclear power plants and we are ready to move forward," Anastasia Zoteeva, general director of the project company, Akkuyu Nuclear, reportedly said in a Telegram statement from the Russian state atomic energy agency Rosatom.
"We are entering a new, important and responsible stage in the life of the project," Zoteeva said.
The next stages
The next stage will be obtaining a license to operate the first power plant, which will allow nuclear fuel to be loaded into the reactor and test work to begin before the start of operations.
"At present, Akkuyu Nuclear's experts are continuing to develop technical documentation for the license application," the statement added.
The first batch of nuclear fuel arrived at Akkuyu in April 2023
Turkey gained the status of a nuclear power country as the Akkuyu nuclear power plant received its first batch of nuclear fuel in April this year.
Turkey and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2010 to build the plant.
Akkuyu will include four Russian-designed VVER production reactors; each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MW).
The foundation for the first reactor was laid in April 2018, while construction of the second, third and fourth units began in June 2020, March 2021 and June 2022, respectively.
Commissioning of the first reactor is expected next year and will eventually have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts.
The plant will be fully operational by 2028 and will provide 10% of Turkey's electricity consumption.
Under the long-term contract, Rosatom has agreed to provide the design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of the power plant.
The company holds a 99.2% stake in the project estimated to cost around $20 billion (TL 580.92 billion) , marking the largest investment in Turkey's history to be made at a single site.
Turkish ambitions and new power plants
The plant is part of Turkey's ambitious plan to triple its renewable energy capacity by 2053 as it strives to become a carbon-neutral economy.
The country's ultimate goal is to increase its nuclear power generation capacity to 20 gigawatts, almost four times what the Akkuyu plant could produce.
To achieve this, the minister said Turkey may need an additional 5 gigawatts of capacity from small nuclear reactors, known as SMRs.
Turkey is in talks with several countries, including Russia, to build a second power plant in the Black Sea city of Sinope.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in mid-September that Turkey is in talks with China to build the country's third nuclear power plant in Kirklareli province in the Thrace region.
Bayraktar said they hope to conclude the talks and reach an agreement to build the plant soon.
The "outspoken" Erdogan on energy issues
In our recent article Erdogan said that his country is considering allowing neighboring Greece ,to benefit from a nuclear power plant that Turkey plans to build near the Black Sea coast
The Turkish President made the comments on his return from a visit to Athens on Thursday, where longtime regional rivals Greece and Turkey took significant steps to mend their troubled ties.
"We are trying to develop and expand cooperation with Greece not only in the energy sector but also in all fields, including nuclear energy," Erdogan told a group of reporters on the flight home.
"For example, we can provide Greece with the opportunity (to benefit) from the energy of our nuclear power plant to be built in Sinope (province)."
His comments were reported by state-run Anadolu.
Our assessment is that the Turkish president is looking forward to Greece and Turkey cooperating in the nuclear energy sector before we cooperate in the nuclear energy sector - to go into joint exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean - earlier.
