Akkuyu’s second unit receives initial approval

Turkey’s first nuclear power plant project received a boost after being granted a “limited works permit” for the construction of the plant’s second unit by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK), Rosatom, Russia’s State Nuclear Energy Corporation, said in a December 14 statement.

TAEK issued the “limited work permit” after a thorough review and assessment of documents submitted by the Akkuyu Nuclear Company, which it spearheading the project.

“While obtaining the ‘limited works permit’ and the ‘main license’ for construction of unit 1, the team at Akkuyu Nuclear looked closely at the requirements for documentation and the rules for submission,” Anastasia Zoteeva, chairperson of Akkuyu Nuclear, said. “Our specialists were thus well-prepared for the second round of submissions.”

The required documents included a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report and a Probabilistic Safety Analysis of the plant, as well as a number of other documents confirming the safety features of the power unit.

The permit allows for preliminary construction and installation works at the unit’s facilities, located in the Turkish province of Mersin, namely excavation to lay the unit’s foundation as well as engineering works.

Akkuyu Nuclear has to obtain a construction license to start concrete pouring of the foundation slab for the second unit, which will signal the formal start of construction.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, launched the construction of the project at a ceremony in the Turkish capital Ankara on April 3.

The plant, comprising four units, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, will meet about 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity needs.