SABAH entered the heart of Akkuyu NPP, which will bring a new era to our country in domestic energy. 23 thousand people and 2 thousand vehicles work day and night at the power plant, the first unit of which will be commissioned before the end of the year. When the power plant is completed, it will provide Istanbul's electricity alone.
In an environment where the world is talking about energy supply security, the first phase of Türkiye's first nuclear power plant is about to be completed... Electricity will be produced from the first of four nuclear reactors, each with an installed power of 1,200 megawatts, before the end of this year. With the commissioning of the first unit, 2-2.5 percent of Türkiye's electricity needs will be met from nuclear power. When other units come into operation, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be able to provide Istanbul's electricity alone.
We went to Mersin Gülnar district to inspect the stage of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which was on the agenda during the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kyrgyzstan last week. Since the power plant is a special protection zone, security is at the highest level... It is forbidden to enter the site without special permissions! The power plant, built on a huge area of 10 square kilometers, operates 24/7. Technical and mechanical work is done during the day. Construction continues in the evenings. Every work done is under the control of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, Turkish Standards Institute, International Atomic Energy Agency...
IT'S LIKE A CITY BOARD!
Apart from the nuclear power plant reactors, nearly 560 buildings have been built on the site... Some of them are buildings containing nuclear fuel, some are waste centers, some are simulator centers... The concrete needed for the constructions is met from the concrete plant on the site. 2 thousand construction machines and vehicles are working in the field. The world's largest crane is here... The lifting height is 236 meters... The crane, which completed its work in the first reactor, was sent for maintenance... It will now be re-established in mid-September and will work in the second unit.
FIRST UNIT IN TESTING PHASE
So when will the power plant come into operation? The landscaping works of the site and the construction of the "East", "North" and "South" drainage channels have been completed. Construction work continues on all four power units. The first reactor is planned to be commissioned by the end of the year. But the construction of other reactors has also started. In the second reactor, 60-70 percent of the construction and mechanical works have started... The construction of the third and fourth reactors has gradually become visible...
ELECTRICITY WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH 7 LINES
A part of the field is reserved for the switchgear area... This is the area where the electricity produced from nuclear reactors is sent underground... From here, the electricity will be distributed to Türkiye through 7 high voltage lines. The length of these lines exceeds approximately 1,100 kilometers.
NUCLEAR FUEL ON THE FIELD
Nuclear fuel is stored in the fuel storage facility on site under relevant safety and security measures. The fuel will be loaded into the reactor after hundreds of testing stages. You cannot enter the building where the fuel is kept by walking around. Face scanning is done at the entrance, people pass through tube tunnels, even the body temperature of the employees is checked, and finally, hand scanning is applied.
DATA CENTER PLAN IN AKKUYU
Evaluating the developments in Akkuyu to SABAH, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar stated that the first reactor has reached the completion stage and said, "We are currently in the testing process on the first reactor. We want to complete the tests step by step and commission the first reactor by the end of 2026. Our goal is to produce electricity by the end of 2026... Work continues on other reactors. We have a plan to establish a data center together with the third and fourth reactors. Work on this "We are doing it," he said. Bayraktar stated that the construction cost of the nuclear power plant exceeded the 20 billion dollars initially thought due to problems such as the pandemic, the increase in commodity prices and the increase in construction costs, and said, "However, we have crossed an important threshold with Akkuyu. The localization rate in this power plant has exceeded 50 percent. We learned know-how, our industrialists started to supply the nuclear facility and produce products according to those standards. We have trained human resources."
WE WILL HAVE TECHNOLOGY IN 2030
Stating that Russia is also interested in the nuclear power plants planned to be built in Sinop and Thrace, Minister Bayraktar said, "They want to transfer their experience and human resources in Akkuyu to Sinop. Apart from Russia, we are also in talks with Canada, China and South Korea for other power plants. We want to make a decision in the coming months and complete the legal agreement processes. We aim to build 8 additional reactors besides Akkuyu NPP." Stating that Türkiye missed the first era in nuclear power but wants to catch up with the second era, Bayraktar said, "We are carrying out R&D studies on small modular reactors. Our industrialists also attach importance to this issue. Our goal is to catch up with the new nuclear age and become a country that exports technology in small modular reactors. We want to be a country with nuclear technology that produces our own small modular power plants in the 2030s."
TRAINING IS PROVIDED
Another noteworthy place in the field is Türkiye's first Nuclear Power Plant Training and Simulation Center... This is one of the most important links in the training chain that ensures the safe operation of Akkuyu NPP. It is an important place for the training of Türkiye's human resources in the field of nuclear energy... Operators receive world-class training in simulators inside. The full-scale simulator is an exact replica of the unit control room of Akkuyu NPP. The full-scale simulator allows personnel to train not only on normal operating conditions but also on emergency scenarios of different levels of difficulty. These trainings are carried out in line with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standards and Turkish legislation.
THE REGIONAL ECONOMY HAS BEEN REVIVED
With the AKKUYU NPP, vitality has come to the region... New residences, hotels, food and beverage venues have been built... Especially the Büyükeceli, Taşucu and Silifke regions close to the power plant are very lively... Roads, intersections and tunnels have been built in Silifke and Gülnar... After the construction of the power plant, the number of residences built in the Silifke region alone is more than 20 thousand... Now, housing construction is being carried out for the personnel who will work constantly at the power plant.
400 TURKISH COMPANIES ARE TAKING PART IN THE PROJECT
AKKUYU NPP has become an important business opportunity for Turkish companies in many fields. Considering equipment, materials and services, the localization rate is 58.17 percent (12 billion 462 million dollars). Considering salaries, taxes, licenses and fees, the localization rate exceeds 60 percent. More than 400 local companies work throughout the project. The Akkuyu NPP project is expected to contribute approximately $50 billion to Türkiye's GDP over the entire life cycle of the power plant. Today, Turkish companies are also involved in Rosatom's other projects in Hungary and Egypt.
IT WILL REDUCE CARBON BY 35 MILLION TONS A YEAR
With the commissioning of the Akkuyu power plant, it is expected that the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere will be reduced by an average of 35 million tons of carbon emissions per year as CO2 equivalent, thanks to the replacement of electricity generation based on coal and natural gas.
COOLING WILL BE DONE FROM THE SEA
One of the most complex structures in the nuclear power plant is the cooling systems... The high-tech pumping station, designed to be reliable against all kinds of external factors, including floods and tsunamis, has been completed at Akkuyu NPP. There are four large pumps in the complex, which consists of a drainage channel, siphon wells, distribution room, water intake and discharge structures. The station, which can pump 260 thousand cubic meters of water per hour from the Mediterranean, can cool the water of all systems and equipment except the reactor in the first power unit. To break the wind and waves in the sea, breakwaters consisting of 55 thousand rocks, each weighing 30 tons, were built...
LIFE 60 YEARS
The agreement for Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was signed on May 12, 2010. The operating life of the power plant, which was implemented by the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation Rosatom, is 60 years... There is the possibility of extending this for another 20 years. Once the power plant is put into operation, it will produce approximately 35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. This amount is sufficient to meet the electricity needs of a large metropolis like Istanbul. When Akkuyu is completed, it will meet approximately 10 percent of our country's electricity needs.
