President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attended the groundbreaking ceremony
of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant via a video conference call from the
Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara on Tuesday.
Prior to the groundbreaking ceremony, Erdogan welcomed Putin with an official ceremony in the capital.
"We
are witnessing a historic moment in terms of development of our country
and cooperation with Russia on energy," Erdogan said, adding that
Turkey is determined to boost cooperation with Russia on regional
issues.
For his part, Putin said the
power plant "will be safe and environment friendly” and that his country
wants to activate the first reactor in 2023.
Following
speeches delivered by the two leaders, Development Minister Lutfi Elvan
pressed the button to lay the foundation of the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey's
southern Mersin province and implemented the agreement signed between
Turkish and Russian governments back in 2010.
The
Akkuyu NPP, comprising four units, each with a capacity of 1,200
megawatts, will be built by the Russian State Nuclear Energy Agency,
Rosatom.
It will produce 35 billion
kilowatts of electricity at full capacity, which will meet about 10
percent of Turkey's electricity needs.
The project started with an intergovernmental agreement signed between Turkey and Russia on May 12, 2010.
At
present, there are 450 nuclear power plants in 31 countries, while 55
plants are under construction around the world. The number of power
plants under construction will be 56 with the Akkuyu NPP.
(Anadolu Agency)