Turkish regulator issues preliminary licence for Akkuyu project

JSC Akkuyu NPP, the Russian-owned company responsible for Turkey's first nuclear power plant, has been awarded a preliminary licence, enabling the company to start investment and permitting procedures for the project.

JSC Akkuyu NPP, the Russian-owned company responsible for Turkey's first nuclear power plant, has been awarded a preliminary licence, enabling the company to start investment and permitting procedures for the project.

How the Akkuyu plant could eventually look with four AES-2006 units (Image: Rosatom)

Turkey's energy market regulatory authority (EPDK) said yesterday that JSC Akkuyu NPP would receive a production licence - needed to start generating electricity from the plant - once it meets the requirements outlined in the newly-issued 36-month document.

Among these requirements, JSC Akkuyu NPP has to obtain official construction and environmental impact permits, according to the EPDK.

"If the Akkuyu Nuclear Joint Stock Company fulfills its obligation, it will get the production licence," said EPDK director Mustafa Yılmaz.

Construction work is expected to begin on the first of Akkuyu's four 1200 MWe Gidropress-designed AES-2006 VVER pressurized water reactors in 2016. The plant is being financed by Russia under a build-own-operate model, in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement Turkey and Russia signed in 2010.

The plant, which is to be built in Mersin province, is scheduled to start operations in 2023 - the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News