Russian Parliament ratifies agreement with Turkey on construction of Akkuyu nuclear power plant

At a plenary session today the Russian State Duma ratified the intergovernmental agreement with Turkey on the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, RIA Novosti reports.

The Russian-Turkish agreement to build a nuclear power plant near the Mediterranean port of Mersin (on a site named Akkuyu) was signed on May 12 in Ankara. In early October the Russian government introduced the document for ratification by the Duma. The project to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant includes the construction of four power units with a capacity of 1.2 GW each.

"This is the world's first intergovernmental agreement on construction of nuclear power plants in the format "construction-ownership-operation". We come to Turkey not only to build the station, but also to manage it throughout its entire lifecycle – that is, for 60 years. This involves the realization of producing electricity, fuel supplies, repairs and shutting down at the end of the period,”  Deputy Director of Rosatom, Nikolai Spassky, said on Friday.