OREANDA-NEWS. October 9, 2012. Entrepreneurs and nuclear scientists from the Republic of Turkey paid a familiarization visit to Novovoronezh nuclear power plant.
 
The delegation included representatives of large businesses of Turkey, Adana Young Businessmen Association (AGIAD) (based in one of the largest industrial centers in the region where Akkuyu NPP construction is planned) and nuclear scientists from the Istanbul Technical University (ITU).
 
The foreign guests made a tour along the conventional route. At the operating plant they visited the turbine hall, MCRs of Units 3, 4 and 5, and then were familiarized with the progress Novovoronezh NPP-2 construction. The guests visited the plant during the scheduled preventive maintenance of Unit 4. In the turbine hall they observed medium repair activities at Steam Generator 12. At the Novovoronezh NPP-2 construction site the guests from Turkey familiarized with the work progress at the containment of Unit 1, specifically, the installation of the containment dome and reactor pressure vessel. They had an opportunity to assess the up-to-date building technologies and their own capabilities to take part in the Akkuyu NPP project.
 
The large business representatives showed a particular interest in the building of Novovoronezh NPP-2; a similar plant with VVER-1200 reactors will be built in Turkey. They were also interested in issues on the safe operation, ecology, and health of the personnel. Answering a question regarding safety of the nuclear power plant, accompanying employees of Novovoronezh NPP noted that there had been not a single abnormal situation in excess of Level 0 of the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) reported over 48 years of the plant operation. 
 
Sharing his impressions of the visit, head of the delegation and chairman of AGIAD Tamer Gьlcan noted: “Before coming here, our knowledge of what does a reactor look like and how it is built were very limited. Here we have seen everything with our own eyes. And I can note that the plant is perfectly equipped and the construction work quality is at a very high level.” On his part, Professor of the Istanbul Technical University and engineer in nuclear technology Ahmet Durmayaz pointed out a high level of active and passive safety systems of Novovoronezh NPP-2 under construction.
 
“People of Turkey don’t have much information about the nuclear power safety. The visit to the NPP of the public opinion leaders – scientists, business representatives – will help to eliminate this deficiency,” Takhir Agayev, a representative of Akkuyu NPP JSC, explained one of the visit objectives.
 
This is already the second visit of the Republic of Turkey’s representatives to Novovoronezh. To remind, late May one of the oldest NPPs in the world was visited by representatives of ministries of the Republic of Turkey who, as they said, were excited by a high physical protection level of the NPP and low prime cost of generated electricity.
 
The agreement to build Akkuyu nuclear power plant was signed by the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara on May 12, 2010. The construction site is in Mersin Province. The project envisages 4 power units of 1,200 MW capacity each. After the construction completion, Akkuyu NPP is planned to produce about 35 Billion kWh a year. Akkuyu NPP is a series project of an AES-2006 nuclear power plant, which is referenced by Novovoronezh NPP-2 (Russia, Voronezh Region). Akkuyu NPP planned operating life is 60 years.