Türkiye is slated to gain the status of a country boasting nuclear energy, as its first plant is set to receive the initial batch of nuclear fuel Thursday.
Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is being built by Russia's state atomic energy company Rosatom in Mersin province on the southern Mediterranean coastline.
It is scheduled to see the first of its four reactors go online in the first half of this year. Akkuyu will eventually boast a capacity to provide about 10% of Türkiye’s electricity needs.
A ceremony on Thursday will mark the delivery of the first fresh nuclear fuel that will grant Akkuyu a "nuclear" plant status, the first for Türkiye.
Before the event, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to speak over the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Wednesday.
"Before the (fuel delivery) ceremony at Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, (President) Erdoğan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They plan to discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as bilateral relations," Kalın told an event in Ankara.
Putin plans to take part in the event remotely via a video link, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"Yes, he plans to do so, it will be remotely via a video link," the Tass news agency cited Peskov as telling reporters.
10% of electricity needs
Türkiye and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2010 to build the plant. Akkuyu will comprise four Russian-designed VVER generation 3+ reactors, with 1,200 megawatts (MW) capacity each.
The foundation of the first reactor was laid in April 2018, while the construction of the second, third and fourth units started in June 2020, March 2021 and June 2022, respectively.
The three remaining units are due to start operation by the end of 2026, at a rate of one per year, to ultimately have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts (MW).
Once completed, the plant is expected to produce 35 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually and will meet about 10% of domestic electricity needs.
According to Rosatom, the site in Akkuyu is located in the fifth-degree earthquake zone, considered the safest region for earthquakes.
The plant design includes an external reinforced concrete wall and an internal protective shell made of "pre-stressed concrete," with metal cables stretched inside the concrete shell to give additional solidity to the structure, the company says.
And the modern reactor design includes an additional safety feature – a 144-ton steel cone called the "core catcher" that traps and cools any molten radioactive materials in an emergency, according to Rosatom.
The company emphasized that power units with VVER-1200 reactors comply with the post-Fukushima requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
According to government figures, if the power plant started operating today, it could single-handedly provide enough electricity for a city of about 15 million people, such as Istanbul.
The plant, which will have an estimated service life of 60 years with an extension of another 20 years, will produce carbon-free energy around the clock.
Akkuyu is the world’s first NPP project implemented through a build-own-operate model. Under the long-term contract, Rosatom has agreed to provide the power plant’s design, construction, maintenance, operation and decommissioning.
The firm holds a 99.2% stake in the project estimated to cost around $20 billion (TL 388.53, marking it the biggest investment in Türkiye’s history implemented in a single site.
Nuclear journey
Türkiye's intention to build a nuclear power plant on its land dates back to the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1955, it became one of the first countries to sign the "Agreement for Cooperation on the Civil Uses of Atomic Energy."
The agreement was followed by the establishment of the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, which was set up for the scientific and technical development of the state and to train personnel.
The first research on the creation of a nuclear power plant began in 1965. In 1974, the Akkuyu site in the Gülnar district of Mersin was considered suitable for the construction of the first plant.
Nuclear regulators provided the license for the plant's construction in Akkuyu in 1976 following eight years of seismic studies to determine the most suitable location. Still, the project was slowed down after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.
After a long break due to financial and political reasons, Türkiye decided to turn to Russia’s many years of experience in nuclear technology.
Large nuclear power plants have traditionally taken a while to build because of the size, scale and complexity of the infrastructure and delays associated with first-of-a-kind plants.