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Turkey may build another nuclear power plant — Erdogan

Turkey already has agreements with Russia and Japan on construction of two nuclear power plants

ISTANBUL, October 10. /TASS/. Turkey is examining the possibility of constructing another nuclear power plant, in addition to Akkuyu NPP, and NPP in Sinop province, Turkish Presidnet Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday at the World Energy Congress 2016.

"We have signed intergovernmental agreement with Russia on the construction of Akkuyu NPP, and with Japan we have an agreement on the construction of the Sinop NPP. There is a third nuclear power plant construction project, the project is undergoing revision," he said.

Russian state corporation Rosatom told TASS that the company is not in talks on the project.

The intergovernmental Russian-Turkish agreement on construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant was signed on May 12, 2010. This project includes construction of four power units (VVER-1200) with a capacity of 1.2 GW each in accordance with the Russian project "NPP-2006".

Due to tensions in Russian-Turkish relations, the future of Akkuyu NPP project was under question.

In June, Russian Nuclear Agency Rosstom said that the first concreting at Akkuyu NPP was planned in 2018. The first block is expected to be put into operation in 2023.

On August 9, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia and Turkey have agreed on the necessary decisions to implement the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project.

The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a press conference after the talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkey intended to grant the status of a "strategic investment" to the Akkuyu NPP project.

According to him, this way the project will take its place among a number of other similar projects in the country and will profit from all the necessary benefits that are given with this status.