Open doors day took place at the Akkuyu NPP site (Turkey)
On October 6 in Büyükeceli (Province of Mersin) AKKUYU NUCLEAR Project Company organized the first Open doors day at the construction site of Akkuyu NPP (Turkey).
Residents of the nearest localities of Gülnar district, Mersin province, were guests of the event. Through a guided bus tour the guests got acquainted with the construction progress of the plant and infrastructure facilities at the site, got an opportunity to communicate with representatives of the Project Company, learnt about the NPP technologies and operation principles as well as measures to provide for project safety and environment protection.
«We are confident that the NPP construction can be successful with support of the locals only, so it is vital for us to maintain a constant dialogue with the region community. It is exactly six months ago that the AKKUYU NPP construction started. Today it is the first Open doors day, and we have plans to organize such events on a regular basis to let people see the progress of the NPP construction, so that people can ask any questions they are interested in», – Yuriy Galanchuk, Managing Director of AKKUYU NUCLEAR JSC, told. According to him, implementation of such a large infrastructure project like NPP construction will considerably change the life of the region for the better: besides the reliable power generation, the plant will encourage infrastructure development, create new jobs, increase local products demand. «This is our joint project, and it will connect us for decades. Currently 85% of employees at plant’s facilities under construction are citizens of Turkey, residents of nearby localities. Over 10K specialists will be employed here at the peak of construction activities», – the speaker added.
The guests of the event highly appreciated the construction progress. According to Said Oz, resident of Gülnar, he was impressed by the scale of construction activities. «It is a big construction; one can see how much has been already done. Population of Gülnar is waiting for job opportunities for locals, schools for kids and future for our families. Thanks to this project less young people will leave the province; the region will develop».
Mevlut Çiftçi, a local resident: «The event was arranged at high level; we appreciate openness of the Company. This is our land, and it is important that time was devoted to us, and we had an opportunity to see with our own eyes the progress of the plant construction, and to make sure the project is safe. We believe the NPP will alter the life of people for the better and bring prosperity to our land and the country».
The tour for the local residents was guided by young employees of the AKKUYU NUCLEAR project company; in 2018 they graduated from Russian NRNU MEPhI and received their higher education diploma in the nuclear industry. «Safety and security requirements restrict access to the plant construction territory; and the locals were very grateful for being invited to ‘see inside’, – Abdulla-Saffa Duman, young specialist of AKKUYU NUCLEAR told. – At first people were afraid of the construction project, they heard lots of myths about NPP effects on health and agriculture, but during the tour we explained them that NPP is safe both for environment and human health, cited examples about benefits of the NPPs in Russian and other countries. Many residents said that it was a very useful event and wished to see the Open doors days arranged on a constant basis».
Today the construction activities at the Akkuyu NPP site are going on. Catch-water drains East, South and North are being constructed; the East Cargo Terminal is to be completed by the end of the year; it will be used for receiving of long-lead equipment (molten-core catcher, steam generators, reactor vessel, elements of turbine plant etc.).
The permanent residential area is to be built for the NPP; it will comprise all necessary infrastructures to accommodate the NPP personnel and their family members. There are plans to hire those willing and respectively qualified residents of province of Mersin and nearby regions to work in the residential area.
Earlier from October 03 through 05, 2018 Mersin hosted the first workshop for Turkish suppliers of the Akkuyu NPP project organised by Rosatom State Corporation and the AKKUYU NUCLEAR Project Company. Over 300 representatives of Turkish companies of various kinds took part in the event. High value was placed on meetings in B2B format of the representatives of AKKUYU NUCLEAR and project participants, Russian companies of the nuclear industry, with Turkish vendors.
