The State Corporation spoke about its opportunities for cooperation with Turkish companies in a wide range of areas.
ROSATOM became a partner of the VI. International Exhibition and the X Summit of Nuclear Power Plants NPPES-2024, which ended in Istanbul (Türkiye) on July 3, 2024.
Anton Dedusenko, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC (Rosatom enterprise), gave a speech at the opening ceremony. In his speech, Dedusenko noted: "To date, our efforts are focused on the implementation of the Akkuyu NPP construction project. At the same time, we have gained a good pace, opening up new prospects. We are closely following Türkiye's plans for the development of nuclear energy, which involve expanding the installed nuclear capacity to 20 gigawatts by 2050, including the construction of small modular reactors with a total capacity of 5 gigawatts. Large capacity and small capacity, as the functions they perform are different , complement each other efficiently, while Rosatom has something to offer in both formats, as well as through an entire range of products and technologies."
Denis Sezemin, Director of Construction and Production Organization of Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, spoke on the status of works at one of the largest nuclear construction sites in the world, the construction project of first nuclear power plant in Türkiye Akkuyu NPP: "Most of the main equipment has already been installed in the reactor compartment of the first power unit. Our specialists carry out the installation of a fuel handling machine designed to load nuclear fuel into the reactor core and replace spent nuclear fuel with fresh fuel. We are also completing the assembly of the electric motors of the main circulation pumps, which will ensure the circulation of the coolant, that is, desalinated water, in the primary circuit of the reactor plant. In general, all systems and elements of the power unit are gradually brought into operational readiness, their compliance with the criteria and characteristics established in the project is checked."
For the first time at the forum, "Nuclear Energy for low-carbon transition" session was organized and hosted by ROSATOM to discuss to the future of low-carbon generation and the role of nuclear energy in ensuring competitive conditions for Turkish industry and business. Representatives of government agencies and the experts discussed economic instruments that can support the energy transition and ensure the role of nuclear energy as the basis for Turkish business competitiveness in the international market. Polina Lion, Chief Sustainability Officer of ROSATOM noted: "No one would deny nowadays, that nuclear energy has one of the lowest carbon footprint among all electricity sources. But that is not enough to be low-carbon by nature, it’s important to be recognized as low-carbon and green by law. We believe that nuclear energy should be explicitly included into green regulatory framework, together with renewables. We already perform this approach in Russia, as we have nuclear in the Taxonomy of green projects and in the national green certificates system, that was launched this year in Russia. We are very much looking forward the same regulatory developments in Turkiye, as it would be commissioned the Akkuyu NPP soon. Only with proper green regulation nuclear energy could make its significant contribution to the national NetZero plans”.