21 Jul 2022 14:18

Rosatom begins constructing No. 4 power unit at Akkuyu NPP in Turkey

MOSCOW. July 21 (Interfax) - Rosatom state nuclear energy corporation has begun construction on the No. 4 power unit at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.

The Rossiya 24 TV channel has broadcast footage from the site, and the Turkish newspaper Sabah has also reported about the event on its website.

"All construction and installation work will be completed in 2023, and fuel will be delivered to the site of the first block," Alexei Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom, said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. "We are on schedule despite how difficult it is," he said.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov had earlier announced the ceremony for pouring the block's first concrete at a briefing.

Rosatom is implementing the nuclear industry's Akkuyu NPP project according to the build-own-operate model. The project includes four power units with Russian III+ generation VVER reactors with increased safety and improved technical and economic features, and each of the NPP's power units will have capacity of 1,200 MW.

Pouring of the first concrete for Akkuyu NPP's No. 1 power unit occurred on April 3, 2018, and the unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2023, when Turkey will celebrate its centennial. Pouring of the first concrete for Akkuyu NPP's No. 2 power unit occurred at the end of June 2020. Construction was scheduled to start on Akkuyu NPP's No. 3 power unit on March 10, 2021.