President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participated in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power
Plant First Nuclear Fuel Delivery Ceremony from the Presidential Complex via
live connection. Erdogan, who stated that the Akkuyu Plant is the largest joint
investment of Turkey and Russia, said, "We will also take action as soon
as possible for our second and third nuclear power plants that we plan to build
in different regions." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian
President Vladimir Putin also attended the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant First
Nuclear Fuel Delivery Ceremony via live connection. Erdogan, who witnessed the
delivery of nuclear fuels to the plant site, which is the stage prior to the
start of production, said, "With the delivery of nuclear fuels that come
by air and sea to our plant, Akkuyu has now become a nuclear facility. Thus,
our country has risen to the league of countries that have nuclear power,
albeit after a delay of 60 years." Erdogan, who stated that there are
currently 422 active nuclear reactors in the world, and 57 are still under
construction, continued his words as follows: "The European Union obtains
25% of its electricity from nuclear energy. Last year, the European Commission
accepted nuclear energy as 'green energy' and eliminated doubts about this
issue. With Akkuyu, we have made our country a part of these developments. I
would like to thank all the Russian Federation authorities, especially Mr.
Putin, who supported our project from the very beginning. I congratulate all
the Turkish and Russian personnel who were involved in the construction and
start-up of our plant." "The largest joint investment between Russia
and Turkey" Erdogan noted that a 4-reactor nuclear power plant with a
capacity of 1200 megawatts each was built in Akkuyu and shared the following
evaluations: "Like many important projects of Turkey, Akkuyu has been
implemented with a financing model that does not burden our national budget.
Akkuyu is the largest joint investment between Russia and Turkey. This project,
with an investment cost of $20 billion, was designed and built by ROSATOM,
Russia's relevant institution. With the construction of the project, the
responsibility for maintenance, operation, and decommissioning processes, which
are of great importance for nuclear power plants, also belongs to the
contractor. All units of the plant will be put into service gradually until
2028. This power plant alone will provide 10% of our country's electricity
consumption. When it operates at full capacity, it will produce approximately
35 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Undoubtedly, with just this
feature, our plant deserves the title of strategic investment with its unique
contribution to our country's energy supply security. This project, which will
contribute to reducing our natural gas imports, will also have a positive
effect on the increase of our national income by providing a $1.5 billion
contribution annually."