Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant: Erdogan and Putin attend first fuel delivery ceremony

As of 27 April 2023, “fresh nuclear fuel” was brought to the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NGS), which is under construction in Mersin, to be used in energy production. Thus, the facility will have the status of “nuclear power plant” and has been put into service from a technical point of view. The next step is to move on to the testing phase for power generation. Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant’s first nuclear fuel delivery ceremony was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin via live link.     ‘One more promise fulfilled’ Stating that they are together to share the joy of a great move that will put Turkey among the world’s nuclear power countries, Erdoğan thanked all guests, especially the partners of the People’s Alliance, and all citizens at their screens who participated in this day of pride.   “With this ceremony, we are also fulfilling one more promise we made to our nation, one more oath,” Erdogan said. Stating that they witnessed the delivery of nuclear fuels to the plant site, which is the previous stage of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant’s production, Erdoğan said, “With the delivery of nuclear fuels coming by air and sea to our plant, Akkuyu has now gained the identity of a nuclear facility. Thus, our country has risen to the league of nuclear power countries in the world, albeit after a 60-year delay,” he said. Russia-Turkey cooperation  Explaining that there are 422 nuclear reactors in operation in the world today and 57 of them are still under construction, Erdoğan continued his words as follows: “The European Union gets 25 percent of its electricity from nuclear [power]. Last year, the European Commission accepted nuclear energy as ‘green energy’ and eliminated the hesitations on this issue. With Akkuyu, we made our country a part of these developments. I would like to express my gratitude to all Russian Federation authorities, especially Mr. Putin, who have supported our project from the very beginning. I congratulate all the Turkish and Russian personnel who took part in the construction of our power plant and in the process of starting production.” Largest joint investment between Turkey and Russia Noting that a nuclear power plant with 4 reactors, each of which has a capacity of 1200 megawatts, is being built in Akkuyu, Erdoğan shared the following evaluations: “Like many important projects of Turkey, Akkuyu has been implemented with a financing model that does not burden our national budget. Akkuyu is the biggest joint investment between us [Turkey] and Russia. This project, with an investment value of 20 billion dollars, was designed and built by ROSATOM, Russia’s related institution. Along with the construction of the project, the responsibility of the maintenance, operation and decommissioning processes, which are of great importance for nuclear power plants, belongs to the contractor. All units of the power plant will be put into service gradually until 2028. 10 percent of our country’s electricity consumption will be provided by this power plant alone. When full capacity is activated, approximately 35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity will be produced here annually. Undoubtedly, even with this feature alone, our power plant deserves the title of strategic investment with its unique contribution to the energy supply security of our country. This project, which will contribute 1.5 billion dollars annually to the decrease in our natural gas imports, will also have a positive impact on the increase in our national income.” Contributive to the neighbourly relations Putin said that the raising of Akkuyu NPP to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey was realised thanks to Erdogan’s personal success. Putin said: “Turkey will now be a country with nuclear energy, one of the lowest-cost sources in the world. Akkuyu NPP, one of the biggest joint projects in Turkish-Russian history, will contribute to the neighbourly relations between our countries. We will encourage both countries to be more active in each other’s markets and tourism, and for this we have decided to increase the number of flights. The system in Akkuyu NPP is one of the most modern and reliable security systems in the world. Mr Erdogan personally and the Turkish government show us what great services he has done for the development of the country’s economy.” More of a necessity than a choice Akkuyu NPP is more of a necessity than a choice for Türkiye. Authorised names who made a statement on the subject state that Akkuyu NPP alone will meet approximately 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity needs. Speaking about the facility, which has a total cost of approximately 20 billion dollars, Research Director Aaron Stein from the Foreign Policy Research Institute think-tank said: “A Russian nuclear power plant built by a Russian company with Turkish workers in the south of Turkey, with provisions to take over.” With this, the “Build-Operate-Own” model is being implemented for the first time in the nuclear industry. It is stated that with the completion of the project, Turkey will pay Russia 12.35 cents of a dollar per kilowatt hour for 15 years.

The writer is a correspondent and an author who works in Turkish media. He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Communication.  He is interested in foreign policy issues, especially in the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Atlantic and Eurasia. Views expressed are personal.  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.