By Ata Ufuk Seker
ANKARA
The report to give the go-ahead for the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (Akkuyu NPP) in Turkey is due out at the end of April.
If the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry approves the Environmental Effect Evaluation Report (CED) at the end of April, the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant (Akkuyu NPP) will be on target to begin the nine year long project, said company officials.
Once the report has been approved, infrastructural investment will begin. 3.5 billion dollars-worth of equipment will be used in Akkuyu NPP, of which 1.8 billion dollars will be spent by the end of this year.
Turkey currently relies heavily on foreign energy resources like natural gas and oil, which drives almost half of all electricity production in Turkey and costs up to 60 billion dollars a year. An efficient use of energy is the preferred government policy and hence the investment in nuclear power generation in order to diversify its energy resources.
Akkuyu is the first planned NPP which consists of four reactors and which will be built by Russia in the Mediterranean coast. Russia and Turkey agreed on the construction of the Akkuyu NPP in May 12, 2010 with the aim of being fully operational by 2023.
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