The foundation for the final reactor at Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, the Akkuyu NGS, was laid

The foundation stone for the fourth and final reactor of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was laid by Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; Aleksey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation; Mersin Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan, Akkuyu Nuclear General Manager Anastasia Zoteeva, IC İçtaş Construction Board Chairman Fırat Çeçen, and senior executives from both countries and the relevant companies.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Dönmez said that in Turkey’s nuclear energy journey spanning more than half a century, the light at the end of the tunnel is now beginning to appear. Noting that the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is the largest single-item investment in the history of the Republic, Minister Dönmez said, “Once completed, the four reactors will single-handedly meet approximately 10 percent of our electricity demand. “In fact, we can think of it as if we’re building four power plants in one place at Akkuyu. These four reactors will operate nonstop, 24/7, for 60 years, regardless of weather or time of day,” he said.

Minister Dönmez, noting that Akkuyu is currently one of the world’s largest construction sites, said, “Two of the world’s largest cranes—of which there are only five in the world—are working here on the Akkuyu construction site. “With the excavated material from Akkuyu, you could build a wall 1 meter wide and approximately 7 meters high all the way around Turkey. With the amount of concrete to be poured here, you could travel from east to west across Turkey and back. If all the rebar to be used here were laid end to end, it would circle the globe exactly 19 times. The length of the pipe joints used here is equal to the distance between Ankara and Istanbul. The amount of cable to be used would be enough to travel between Ankara and Moscow twice. “We are talking about one of the world’s largest projects,” he said.

The license for the construction of the 4th power unit at the Akkuyu NPP was issued by the Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) in October 2021. Prior to the concrete pouring, a series of preparatory works were carried out, including drainage, excavation, installation of the concrete base and waterproofing, foundation reinforcement, and installation of embedded parts. Reinforced concrete is being poured into the foundation of the unit to be constructed. The foundation is divided into 16 blocks, referred to as “pours.” A total of 17,000 cubic meters of concrete mix will be poured into the foundation. The concrete pour height is 2.6 meters, and the average volume of each block will be 1,100 cubic meters.

The concrete pouring process will be carried out under the supervision of laboratory experts from the concrete plant, representatives of AKKUYU NUCLEAR Inc., the main construction contractor TITAN 2 IC İçtaş Construction Inc. joint venture, and independent construction inspection organizations.