Limited construction permit issued for Turkish plant

Construction of non-nuclear facilities at the site of the planned Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey can begin after the granting of a limited construction permit (LCP). A licence permitting full construction to start is expected to be issued in the first half of 2018.

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC announced today that it has been granted a limited construction permit by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). The LCP allows the start of construction and installation works at all facilities on the nuclear power plant, except for the buildings and structures important for nuclear safety. Construction can therefore start on facilities such as the turbine island and auxiliary buildings and structures. The company said this was "the first step on the way to obtaining the Construction Licence".

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC applied to TAEK on 3 March 2017 for the construction licence of Akkuyu unit 1. The application documents included a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report of the Akkuyu plant, as well as a Probabilistic Safety Analysis and several other documents certifying safety of the plant. Akkuyu Nuclear said the granting of the LCP resulted from the thorough review and evaluation of those documents by TAEK.

Yuri Galanchuk, CEO of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, said: "Obtaining the limited construction permit is a significant step forward for implementation of the Akkuyu project. We are actually moving from the preparatory stage to construction activities at the site." He noted that a major part of these construction works will be carried out by local subcontractors.

"Obtaining the limited construction permit is a significant step forward for implementation of the Akkuyu project. We are actually moving from the preparatory stage to construction activities at the site."

Yuri Galanchuk,
CEO of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC

Galanchuk added, "Our next task is to get the construction licence. We would like to commence construction of the entire set of the nuclear power plant buildings and structures at the earliest time possible. Full compliance with all national and international safety standards remains our top priority." Akkuyu Nuclear JSC said it expects to obtain the construction licence in the first half of next year.

"According to the intergovernmental agreement, [nuclear construction work at] Akkuyu unit 1 should occur not later than seven years after receipt of all construction permits," Akkuyu Nuclear JSC noted.

The project to build four 1200 MWe Gidropress-designed AES-2006 VVER pressurised water reactors - on the Akkuyu site in Mersin province in southern Turkey - is being financed by Russia under a build-own-operate model, in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement Turkey and Russia signed in 2010. The plant is scheduled to start operations on 29 October, 2023 - the centenary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

Akkuyu Nuclear JSC obtained a site licence in October 2011 and in November 2013 Turkey's energy market regulatory authority (EPDK) approved the Basic Site Report under the terms of that licence. In December 2014, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation of the Republic of Turkey approved the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the Akkuyu project and in June 2015 the EPDK issued the preliminary generation licence. In June this year, EPDK issued a 49-year electricity generation licence.

In June 2015, JSC Akkuyu NPP and Turkey's Cengiz İnşaat signed a contract on the design and building of off-shore hydraulic structures for the project. On 9 February this year, the EPDK approved the design parameters of the Akkuyu NPP site according to the Site Parameters Report for the project.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News