Akkuyu Plant’s Unit 1 Launch in Turkiye Set for Fall 2026 — Rosatom CEO
/ Go to the mediabankTurkiye’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant which is currently under construction by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
/ Go to the mediabank
Nuclear fuel loading into the reactor of Unit 1 at Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear power plant, along with its subsequent launch, is scheduled for this fall, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev told Sputnik.Rosatom plans to begin the so-called «hot test» in July — the main stage of commissioning work before the startup of Akkuyu’s unit 1, Likhachev noted. If these tests successfully confirm the reliability of the reactor’s equipment and systems under design operating condition, «we will begin loading fuel and ‘lifting up’ the unit in the fall,» the Rosatom boss pledged.Turkiye’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, is currently under construction with Russian participation. The facility will consist of four power units featuring advanced Russian-designed VVER-1200 Generation III+ reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts. The project is the first in the global nuclear industry to be implemented under the «build-own-operate» model. Likhachev earlier noted that getting Unit 1 up and running is among Rosatom’s key priorities for this year.Fresh nuclear fuel was delivered to the Akkuyu Unit 1 site in late April 2023, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, taking part in the ceremony via video link.
