Construction of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkish-Russian Cooperation Not Affected by Earthquakes

PLTN Akkuyu development project. (Source: Akkuyu Nuclear Joint Stock Company via IAEA)

JAKARTA - Turkey's first nuclear power plant (NPP), named Akkuyu and under construction in the southern region, was undamaged by the earthquake that rocked the region on Monday morning, officials said.

"Our experts detected no damage to buildings, equipment or cranes on the ground. Construction and assembly work is continuing," said Anastasia Zoteeva, head of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant project company, adding that the earthquake was felt with a magnitude of about 3 on the Richter scale in the area in Mersin, where the factory is under construction, reported by Daily Sabah February 7.

According to Zoteeva, the country's civil defense and emergency protection units, in cooperation with the emergency units of the plant, were on alert to send equipment and personnel to the region.

"Nevertheless, we are carrying out extensive diagnostic measures, to ensure that construction and installation operations can proceed safely," she said, quoted by the RIA news agency.

Akkuyu on Turkey's Mediterranean coast will be the country's first nuclear-powered power plant. The plant, which has an estimated installed capacity of 4.800 megawatts and four reactors, will start producing electricity later this year.

President Erdogan with President Putin during the groundbreaking of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. (Wikimedia Commons/Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации)

The construction of the Akkuyu 1 reactor, which was worked on by Turkey and Russia, began with the ground-breaking by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin in 2018. Two years later, the construction of the Akkuyu 2 reactor began. The project is targeted for completion in 2026.

Quoting Bloomberg July 29, 2022, the project has received financing from Russia's largest lender, Sberbank PJSC, which has been sanctioned by the US and the European Union, and also from Sovcombank, which has also been sanctioned as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. Last year, Russia's state-owned company Rosatom invested $20 billion in a subsidiary working on the project.

The project is considered important for Turkey if it is to meet its growing energy needs, slated to meet 10 percent of the country's domestic electricity demand once all four reactors are operational.

Russia and Turkey have decades of economic ties, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been careful not to alienate the Kremlin since Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 04:17 a.m. local time in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) causing more than 3.000 people to die and tens of thousands injured in Turkey and Syria.