Russian contractor denies halt to Turkish nuclear power plant project

Published time: 9 Dec, 2015 15:53


Steam rises at sunset from the cooling towers of the Electricite de France (EDF) nuclear power station at Nogent-Sur-Seine, France, November 13, 2015. © Charles Platiau / Reuters


Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant project is continuing and the construction has not been halted, Oleg Titov the deputy director general of the Akkuyu Nuclear Company said on Wednesday.
"Nothing has been stopped. The work at the site is underway as scheduled. The talks continue on implementing the project," Titov said. "Moreover, today we held a major meeting at Turkey's Energy Ministry. No one told us about the halt also," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing unnamed Turkish energy officials, that Russia has halted work on building the nuclear power plant in the country. According to Reuters, Ankara has already started looking for new potential contractors.

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Moscow and Ankara signed a deal to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant in 2010. The power plant will have four reactors with a capacity of 4,800 MW, and a service life expected to be 60 years. The project should provide 17 percent of Turkey's electricity needs.

Russia's state atomic energy corporation Rosatom is in charge of the project worth $22 billion. Russia has already invested around $3 billion.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing unnamed Turkish energy officials, that Russia has halted work on building the nuclear power plant in the country. According to Reuters, Ankara has already started looking for new potential contractors.