Russia-Turkish Nuclear Power Venture Still Ongoing

Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, a joint Turkish-Russian project, continues its work, according to a source familiar with the situation.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, a company set up to construct the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey, a joint Turkish-Russian project, continues to operate despite tension between the two countries, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, media reported, citing sources in Turkish energy sector, that the construction of the nuclear power plant had been suspended amid tensions between Ankara and Moscow.

"The company [Akkuyu Nuclear JSC] continues its work," the source told RIA Novosti.

Russia and Turkey signed an agreement in 2010 to construct and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant at the Akkuyu site in the southern province of Mersin. On November 19, a deputy undersecretary from the Turkish Energy Ministry said that the first reactor of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant should start operating no later than in 2022.

Bilateral relations between Ankara and Moscow deteriorated following the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft by a Turkish F-16 fighter in Syria, on November 24. In response to the incident, Russia introduced a set of economic measures against Turkey, prohibiting the import of some products and suspending several economic activities.