Türkiye announced on Tuesday the completion of another key phase in its first nuclear power project, with fuel loading tests carried out at the plant's initial reactor unit.
The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said a nuclear fuel assembly was symbolically loaded into the pressure vessel of Akkuyu's first reactor as part of commissioning procedures.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar described it as one of the most important stages in the commissioning schedule of the first unit.
Akkuyu is being built in the southern Mersin province by Russia's state nuclear energy company Rosatom under a 2010 accord worth nearly $20 billion (TL 922.35 billion).
It will consist of four reactors with a combined installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts (MW), with each reactor capable of generating 1,200 MW.
The fuel loading tests were carried out for five days and were conducted under the supervision of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK), the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry said in a statement.
Sergei Butckikh, general manager of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, said the process represented a comprehensive preparation and testing phase for the nuclear fuel loading process.
Butckikh said they tested procedures related to nuclear fuel under conditions as close as possible to actual operating conditions.
During the operation, the facility's mechanical, hydraulic, and thermal systems, as well as its structural durability, were tested.
Next in line is the installation of the first reactor's upper equipment.
Once assembly work is finalized, the unit will undergo cold and hot functional testing before entering operation.
"Our goal is to generate the first electricity from the plant by the end of the year, ushering Türkiye into a new era in nuclear energy," Bayraktar said.
"We will make zero-emission, uninterrupted, and environmentally friendly nuclear energy one of the strongest sources in our country's energy mix."
Construction of Akkuyu began in 2018, and the plant was originally scheduled to start operations last year but faced delays due to multiple challenges.
Those included pandemic-related disruptions, delivery problems after Germany's Siemens failed to supply key components and financial hurdles caused by Russian funds frozen abroad.
Bayraktar said in December that Russia had provided $9 billion in new financing for the project.
Once all four units are operational, Akkuyu is expected to supply from 10% to 15% of Türkiye's electricity demand, making it the country's largest single source of baseload power generation.
The plant is designed for a 60-year operating lifespan, with the possibility of extending operations for an additional 20 years.
Part of the electricity generated by the plant will be sold to the government under a fixed-price arrangement.
The facility is expected to help meet Türkiye's growing power demand while providing stable generation that can complement the increasing share of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Bayraktar said Türkiye would not stop with Akkuyu.
It is also pursuing plans to build two additional nuclear power plants in Sinop on the Black Sea coast and in the Thrace region. Negotiations for the projects are ongoing with South Korea's Kepco and Canada's AtkinsRealis.
Türkiye aims to reach 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2035 and 20 GW by 2050. It plans to complement the conventional nuclear plants with small modular reactors.
These ambitions will help "move forward with determination toward the goal of a fully energy-independent Türkiye," said Bayraktar.
