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04.08.2022

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN VISITED THE AKKUYU NPP SITE

August 4, 2022, Buyukeceli, Mersin Province, Turkey. – The Akkuyu NPP construction site was visited by representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, as well as non-profit organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan. 

Among the members of the delegation were Dyusenbai Turganov and Kudaibergen Yerzhan, the deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Zhandos Nurmaganbetov, Deputy Minister of Energy, Lazzat Turlashov, First Deputy of Akim of Almaty Region, and other officials. The visit was organized with the assistance of PE Rusatom International Network, a company of Rosatom State Corporation.

The members of the delegation spent their first day of the visit at the Akkuyu NPP construction site. After passing the mandatory safety briefing, the guests, accompanied by the construction managers, visited the territory of the Vostochny sea cargo terminal, the main transport hub of the project, and examined the site for the temporary storage of large-sized equipment for the NPP under construction. They also visited the construction site of the pumping station of Unit No. 2, the armoware production workshop and climbed to the highest point of the site to see a panorama of the station construction area.

After a tour round the construction site, the guests met with Anastasia Zoteeva, CEO of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, Sergey Butskikh, Director of the NPP under construction, Dmitry Romanets, Construction Deputy Director of the NPP, Vadim Titov, President of the Private Institution “Rusatom International Network” and natives of the Republic of Kazakhstan working at the NPP site "Akkuyu".

“I am happy to welcome you to our construction site. We believe that this is the most beautiful construction site of Rosatom, and we are very proud of our work. I hope you have got a feeling of the NPP atmosphere of cooperation, creativity, and boldness of the engineering idea. Akkuyu NPP is the first and only project in the nuclear industry of the world that is being implemented according to the Build-Own-Operate model. In the Republic of Turkey, the Akkuyu NPP is going to be the first nuclear power plant, despite the fact that Turkey has been planning to develop nuclear energy since the middle of the last century. A real start for nuclear energy in the Republic of Turkey occurred in 2010, after signing an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of a four-unit nuclear power plant using Russian technologies,” Anastasia Zoteeva noted in her opening speech.

Sergey Butskikh made a presentation for the members of the Kazakh delegation on the specifics of the implementation of the Akkuyu NPP project. He elaborated on the project model, technical characteristics of the main equipment, key stages of the construction and the contribution of the project to the development of the region. Vadim Titov told the guests about the experience of Rosatom in other countries. The official part of the visit ended with a question-and-answer session. On the second day of the visit, the delegates visited the city of Silifke, where they met with representatives of the administration and various organizations of the region at the central office of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mayor of Silifke Sadık Altunok spoke about the region and how it had changed for the better after launching the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. As he noted, the new residents of the region, the employees of the Akkuyu NPP construction site, have become a large part of the local community. As a result, the load on the region has grown significantly, and if there was unemployment before, now more and more workers are needed. He stated that work is underway to improve and develop urban infrastructure of the region. New residential areas are being built, new schools, kindergartens and a camp for future NPP workers are also in the construction plans for the near future.

Nurettin Kaynar, Chairman of the Silifke Chamber of Commerce and Industry, noted that local business and enterprises have reached a new stage of development thanks to the arrival of Russian nuclear scientists and thousands of builders. Industrial and agricultural enterprises are actively implementing new technologies and increasing production volumes to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population of the region.

The imam of the mosque in the village of Büyükeceli, the nearest settlement to the construction site of the Akkuyu NPP, Hasan Sümbül, who was present at the meeting, spoke about the great respect Russian builders have for the traditions and religious holidays of the Republic of Turkey. Recently, on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the representatives of the management of the Akkuyu NPP congratulated hundreds of Turkish builders at the construction site. The Imam's address to the employees and holding a midday prayer became an important part in the festive program.

22 representatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited the Akkuyu NPP construction region. The participants were able to ask all their questions, see the largest nuclear construction site, and assess the changes occured in the region after launching the construction of the Akkuyu NPP.