MOSCOW
Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant, to be built by the Turkish subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, will have more thorough security conditions than the recommended Russian Novovoronej nuclear plant, said the plant's senior official Thursday.
Senior official Andrey Abramov said that Akkuyu's geographic and security conditions will be different from that of the Novovoronej plant and the security standards of the nuclear plant will be higher after the Fukushima disaster.
Abramov explained that the plant will be constructed with high level security taking into consideration climate conditions, earthquake and tsunami risks. He said the plant will have the durability to withstand a 400 ton airplane crash as opposed to the Novovoronej plant which was constructed with durability against a 5-7 ton plane crash. Additionally, he said that Akkuyu's cooling system will not harm sea water.
"Cooling water will be transferred through pipes and will not come into contact with radioactive material. With the three-phased protection system, the cleanliness of circulated water in the turbines is guaranteed," he said.
The Novovoronej nuclear plant, located along the Don river, 45 kilometers away from the state of Voronej, near the country's border with Ukraine, will be the reference for the construction for Turkey's nuclear plant. The plant started generating electricity in 1964 and has 1,800 megawatts of generation capacity with three power reactors.
Abramov stated that nuclear energy is harmless to nature, adding that the Akkuyu plant will provide employment to 10,000 workers at the facility.
"I would have not worked in a nuclear plant for 27 years if it was harmful," Abramov said.
The agreement over the Akkuyu nuclear project was signed between Russia and Turkey in Ankara on May 12, 2010.
The Turkish subsidiary of Russian state-run Rosatom will construct the country’s first nuclear power plant. The company will build and operate the four-reactor nuclear power plant in the Mersin province on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
The Akkuyu nuclear power plant is estimated to cost around $20 billion. The reactor’s construction is estimated to begin in 2016 and is expected to be operational by 2020 and fully operational by 2023.
