The Akkuyu nuclear station construction site on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast. Courtesy Akkuyu Nuclear. Assystem has been chosen to supervise the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power station in Turkey after winning a six-year contract from a Turkish subsidiary of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

France-based Assystem said the contract is a continuation of its current role at Akkuyu, delivering supervision of the construction of key facilities. The contract will run until August 2026.

The $20bn Akkuyu station, the first commercial nuclear station in Turkey, is being built near Mersin on the country’s southern Mediterranean coast under a contract signed with Russia in 2010.

The contract is for a subsidiary of Rosatom, Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, to build, own and operate the facility. The agreement was ratified by the Turkish parliament in July 2010. Engineering and survey work started at the site in 2011.

Akkuyu will have four Generation III+ VVER-1200 units, with the first expected to come online in 2023 and a further unit starting every year afterwards.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, construction of Akkuyu-1 began in April 2018 and of Akkuyu-2 in April 2020.