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Construction of power unit N 4 at Akkuyu NPP starts in Turkey

The first power unit of the Akkuyu NPP will be launched in 2023

MERSIN /Turkey/, July 21. /TASS/. Russian nuclear state corporation Rosatom has begun construction of the fourth power unit of the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.

Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez gave the start of casting the first concrete under the base plate of power unit No. 4.

"The casting of the first concrete means a change in status: the fourth unit will appear on the IAEA list as an official nuclear power unit under construction," Likhachev said, speaking at the construction start ceremony.

Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant under construction in Turkey. The first concrete was cast under its unit N 1 on April 3, 2018, under unit N 2 - at the end of June 2020. The construction of unit N 3 began on March 10, 2021. The first power unit of the Akkuyu NPP will be launched in 2023.

The project is being implemented on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at the Akkuyu site in the Republic of Turkey, concluded between Russia and Turkey on May 12, 2010.

Rosatom is the majority shareholder of the Akkuyu Nukleer company, which is the project’s operator. The project provides for the construction of four power units with Russian-designed VVER generation 3+ reactors. The capacity of each NPP power unit will be 1,200 MW. Once commissioned and brought to full capacity, the Akkuyu nuclear power plant will generate about 35 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The power plant is projected to cover up to 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.

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