Turkiye nuclear plant threatened by Russian sanctions

The global reaction against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has led to fresh concerns about Turkiye’s first nuclear power plant, which is being built by Moscow’s state-owned nuclear company, Al Jazeera reports.

According to the report, the first reactor of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkiye, located on the Mediterranean coast near Mersin, was planned to start next year. Yet, the sanctions have threatened to delay the $20bn project.

Russian banks, such as Sberbank, supporting Turkiye with the loans worth $1.2bn since 2019, have been hit by sanctions, the report added.

In an interview with Turkish broadcaster, NTV, Akkuyu CEO, Anastasia Zoteeva, highlighted the “large amount of equipment” produced for the plant in countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea will also be delayed.

With the Akkuyu power plant, Turkiye aims to produce 10 percent of its energy needs when all of its four 1,200-megawatt reactors come on line.

According to Turkiye’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the project is wholly financed by Russian capital.

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