Construction of Akkuyu nuclear power plant unit completed in Türkiye – Rosatom

Construction work on the first power unit of Türkiye’s Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant has been completed, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said during a visit to the site, according to TASS.

“We are recording the completion of construction works. Tonight, cold hydraulic tests of the reactor have begun, and within a few weeks, this work will be completed. Only a matter of weeks remains until the start of commissioning operations, and following the entire scope of work, a review will be carried out, and adjustments will be made to the final stage,” Likhachev stated.

According to Rosatom’s press service, during his inspection of the site, Likhachev visited the central hall of the reactor compartment of Unit 1, where he was briefed on the successful completion of operations to load dummy fuel assemblies into the reactor, as well as the completion of reactor assembly. After loading the mock core, specialists installed the reactor’s protection tube unit and upper block, completing one of the key stages in preparing the reactor for cold and hot testing.

Likhachev described the stage as “like the final 100 metres of a 42-kilometre marathon.” He also stressed the importance of staffing at the final stage, noting that the Unit 1 workforce totals 1,930 people, more than 40% of whom are Turkish citizens trained through Russian universities and nuclear facilities.

By Jeyhun Aghazada