Turkish Forum

Tag: Turkey’s Akkuyu

  • Turkey’s first nuclear power plant to cost about $20 bln

    Turkey’s first nuclear power plant to cost about $20 bln

    On a question about nuclear waste disposal, Lokshin said that nuclear waste would be returned to Russia to be buried.

    Wednesday, 15 December 2010 16:42

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    Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, planned to be built by Russian state nuclear company on the southern coast of the country, would cost around $20 billion, a Russian official said on Wednesday.

    In May, Turkey and Russia signed a deal for construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, a small town on the Mediterranean coast.

    Alexander Lokshin from ROSATOM, Russia’s state-owned atomic power corporation, appeared at a press conference in Istanbul to give information about Akkuyu nuclear power plant process.

    Lokshin said that Akkuyu site would be licensed by the end of 2011.

    “We have one year ahead for applications,” Lokshin said, however, he added that it could take a little bit more than a year to complete legal procedures for licensing.

    Earlier this week, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladimir Ivanovsky said that Russian company was likely to start building the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in 2013 and the

    first reactor was planned to generate electricty in 2018.

    Turkish state-owned electricity corporation has guaranteed to buy a fixed amount of the plant’s output over the first 15 years starting from initial commercial operation at a reported price of 12.35 US cents per kWh, with the rest of the electricity to be sold on the open market by the project company.

    Lokshin said it was not an expensive price considering a fixed period of nearly 23 years from now.

    In the meantime, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has arrived in Turkey earlier in the day to meet Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz. Sechin and Yildiz are expected to discuss details of works aimed at setting up a project company, a move to push the button for actual launch of the nuclear power plant project.

    Turkey is also in talks with Japan for construction of another nuclear plant on the north coast of the country. Turkey started talks with Japan last month after a failure of negotiations with South Korea.

    Russia will build four 1,200 megawatt units on Akkuyu site. Lokshin said Russia’s nuclear technology was one of the best in tho world. He said technology transfer could be negotiated with Turkey in case of a Turkish request.

    Lokshin ruled out any concerns about Russian technology when asked about a public apprehension in Turkey after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, saying that reactors to be used at Akkuyu were “totally different” from Chernobyl reactors.

    He said Russian company understands “prejudices” and public concerns and that such doubts were caused by public unawareness which could be eliminated by the help of awaraness-raising campaigns.

    On a question about nuclear waste disposal, Lokshin said that nuclear waste would be returned to Russia to be buried.

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  • Turkey courts Japan after failure of nuclear talks with South Korea

    Turkey courts Japan after failure of nuclear talks with South Korea

    Istanbul – Turkey is seeking a new partner in the construction of a nuclear power plant on the Black Sea coast after talks with South Korea broke down, Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Monday.

    Turkey was now looking to start talks with Japan after balking at the conditions set out by South Korea for the construction of the plant, Anadolu news agency quoted Yildiz as saying.

    The talks had stumbled on several issues – not only price, she was further quoted as saying.

    Turkey plans to build two nuclear power plants to meet its soaring energy needs.

    The plant that was discussed with South Korea – the second in the pipeline – is to be built near Sinop on the Black Sea coast by 2023.

    Russian firms won the contract to build the country’s first nuclear plant at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean Sea.

    That project, which will consist of four reactors with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts, is estimated to cost 15 billion euros (20.5 billion dollars) and be completed by 2020.

    The plant has caused controversy, partly because it would be situated in an area prone to earthquakes, but also because Turkey’s plans for the disposal of nuclear waste from the plant are sketchy.

    via Turkey courts Japan after failure of nuclear talks with South Korea – Monsters and Critics.

  • Russian plant for Turkey’s Akkuyu

    Russian plant for Turkey’s Akkuyu

    Turkey’s first nuclear power plant will be built, owned and operated by Russia after the two countries signed an agreement during a visit by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to Ankara.

    Medvedev and Gul (Image: Presidential Press and Information Office)The deal, signed in front of Medvedev and Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan, covers the construction of four 1200 MWe VVER units at the Akkuyu site on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Unlike Russia’s previous overseas reactor construction projects, however, the plant will be built, operated and middlefinanced through a Russian project company. Russian state nuclear company Rosatom has been given until mid-August to create the subsidiary, which will initially be 100% Russian-owned. In the longer term, Russia may sell up to 49% of the company to other investors from Turkey and elsewhere, but will retain the 51% controlling stake. Turkish firm Park Teknik and state generation company Elektrik Uretim AS (EUAS) have been tipped as likely candidates eventually to take up significant shares in the $20 billion project.

    Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko described the establishment of a Russian-owned reactor overseas as a long-sought after development, saying it was “much more interesting” to be a co-investor rather than simply the constructor of such projects.

    The site for the reactors will be provided by EUAS. The Turkish Electricity Trade and Contract Corporation (TETAS) has guaranteed to purchase a fixed amount of the plant’s output (70% of the electricity generated by the first two units and 30% of that from the third and fourth reactors) over the first 15 years of commercial operation at a reported price of 12.35 US cents per kWh, with the rest of the electricity to be sold on the open market by the project company. The reactors are expected to enter service in the period 2016-2019, with the first one due to start up within seven years of receipt of a construction licence and the others following at yearly intervals.

    The agreement also provides for Russia and Turkey to cooperate in other areas of the nuclear fuel cycle including the treatment of used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, decommissioning and the possible construction of a Turkish nuclear fuel fabrication plant. However, such cooperation would be carried out under separate terms.

    Both the Turkish and Russian parliaments must now ratify the agreement before it can come into force.

    World Nuclear Watch