Russia starts building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant

The facility is expected to provide 10% of the nation’s electricity requirements

The leaders of Russia and Turkey have officially launched the start of the work to build the former country’s first nuclear power station.

The $20 billion (£14bn) Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is to be built by Russian state firm ROSATOM and will have a total capacity of 4.8GW.

President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan were part of a ceremony via video and signed agreements to further strengthen their relations and advance their co-operation.

The nuclear plant is expected to provide 10% of the nation’s electricity demand and be commissioned in 2023.

Mr Putin said: “Owing to Akkuyu project, new up-to-date, well paid jobs will be created and new cutting-edge productions and technologies will be developed in Russia and Turkey.”

Construction of the first of four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was rececntly completed.

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