The first reactor unit of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey is expected to start generating electricity in the fall or winter of this year, announced the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom Alexey Likhachev, quoted by the Turkish publication Türkiye Today, BTA reported.
According to him, the project has reached an important stage after permission was issued last week to start loading the reactor core with test cartridges before the introduction of nuclear fuel.
The procedure is part of the final phase of preparation, which is being carried out under the technical coordination of Rosatom and aims to simulate real operating conditions, as well as to check all systems before the unit is launched.
"Within about a month, tests of the systems before fueling will be carried out," Likhachev said, quoted by RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum held in St. Petersburg from June 3 to 6.
He added that all activities are moving towards the stage of physical start-up and subsequent commissioning in the autumn-winter period.
Meanwhile, at the Akkuyu NPP site in the southern Turkish province of Mersin, final checks and commissioning activities for the first power unit continue. The general manager of the company responsible for the organization, coordination of construction and preparation for the future operation of the plant on site in Turkey - – – Akkuyu Nuclear Inc.", Sergey Butskikh, told the Anadolu Agency that construction and commissioning operations are taking place in parallel on all four units of the plant.
Butskikh specified that the first unit is in a crucial phase, with the equipment and systems undergoing final control tests before commissioning, and the construction of the third and fourth units is also progressing according to schedule.
The "Akkuyu" NPP envisages the construction of four reactors with a total installed capacity of about 4,800 megawatts, the Turkish publication notes. After their full commissioning, the plant is expected to provide approximately 10% of Turkey's electricity consumption.
The facility's operating life is 60 years with the possibility of extension for another 20 years.