The Russian State Owned Corporation, Rosatom, has halted construction work at the $22bn Akkuyu nuclear power plant, Reuters reported on Wednesday, December 9.
Both RIA Novosti and Sputnik news agencies report that the Russian Akkuyu Nuclear JSC company is still in operation. Rosatom has not cancelled the contract and will resist liability due to the compensation costs incurred, not to mention the $3,6bn already invested in the project.
However, other contractors may with to buy-in the project. That idea was put forward by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Numan Kurtulmus, who told Hurriyet that Turkey "is not a prisoner of one country’s technology regarding its nuclear plants.”
The deal for the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant was signed in May 2010 and has been criticized due to the seismic characteristics of the Mersin province. The first reactor was expected to go online in 2022.
On Thursday, November 26th, the Russian Minister of development, Alexei Ulyukayev,
said that Russia is cancelling Turkish Stream and, perhaps, even the
$22bn Akkuyu project was in danger. That was in response to the downing
of a SU-24 fighter jet by Turkey in November. That incident is the most
heated between a NATO member state and Russia in five decades. And there
is no sign of de-escalation in the Russo-Turkish standoff.
