Turkey and Russia continue cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. The director of the Center of Nuclear Energy at MEPhI, Sergey Popov, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza about the interaction between the two countries in this field.
Recall that in April 2015 the Russian State Corporation Rosatom started construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, which will be able to produce one third of all the electricity in this country in the near future. The project will allow significant economic benefits to be attracted to both countries. Turkey will save on fuel imports up to $14 billion a year, and Russia will be able to make a significant profit after the construction of the facility, as it will be maintained by Russian specialists.
"Turkey has never had such experience in operating nuclear power facilities, so it is interested in building this facility. The first agreement that Turkey signed with Rosatom was the so-called BOO-project: "Build, own and use." In other words, Russia will be responsible not only for the construction, but also for the commissioning of power units, as well as for their work until decommissioning. Accordingly, Russian personnel will maintain this facility. Russia will be responsible for it, too," the head of the Center of Nuclear Energy said.
According to him, Turkey is interested in its own experts in the country's ministries that deal with management, as well as in the regulatory body that develops standards and regulations in the field of nuclear energy. "They need their own people at the nuclear power plant in order for them to master a new technology and the country accumulated new experience," Sergey Popov said.
In addition, he spoke about the training process of Turkish students in Russia in the field of nuclear energy. "According to the signed contracts, Russia is to train about 600 specialists. Now, MEPhI is planning to train about 400 students. Turkish students are at different stages of preparation. Some of them are studying at the preparatory course, where they are learning the Russian language. Others are first, second and third-year students. They study well, some of them are highly motivated. They succeed in studying, including the Russian language. Unfortunately, those students who cannot study complex material are dropped out, the number of such students is low. The requirements of the training are very high. If they manage to master these complex sciences they will graduate from the university," the director of the Center of Nuclear Energy at MEPhI Sergey Popov concluded.
