Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) built by Rosatom, the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation, in Mersin, continues to host future energy experts. Students of the Electrical and Energy Department of the OSTİM Technical University Vocational School in Ankara had the opportunity to visit the plant site and see the operation of a modern nuclear power plant up close. This technical visit also helped students understand career opportunities in the high-tech and rapidly developing nuclear energy sector.
Security Briefing and General Information About NGS
Before visiting the Akkuyu NPP site, the students and their university representatives received a detailed briefing on occupational health and safety issues. Afterwards, a comprehensive information presentation was made by the management of AKKUYU NÜKLEER A.Ş. about the Akkuyu NPP project. The students learned about the general status of the project, its technical features and its importance for Türkiye.
Türkiye's First NGS Training Center and Full-Scale Simulator Attracted Great Attention
One of the most impressive stops of the visit was the first training center established in Türkiye for NPP operations personnel. Here, students had the opportunity to closely examine the full-scale power and control unit simulator, where future reactor, turbine and electrical equipment operators receive training. In this simulator, operator candidates can experience all possible scenarios and different operating modes of NPP in real time. The students were very impressed with the complex structure of the simulator and the realistic training environment it offered.
Detailed Examination of Switchboard Systems with Interactive Models
Students also visited a special hall with interactive equipment models. In this hall, they received detailed and practical information about how the various systems of the nuclear power plant work. Thanks to the interactive features on the models, they were able to understand the functioning of different parts of the plant in a more concrete way.
AKKUYU NUCLEAR INC. General Manager Butckikh: “We Want to Inspire Future Engineers”
AKKUYU NUCLEAR A.Ş. General Manager Sergei Butckikh expressed his satisfaction with the interest shown by leading universities in Türkiye in the NPP project and said, “We are open to dialogue and we see it as important to share our knowledge with young people who will be the technicians, engineers and managers of the future. Such visits make a significant contribution to the development of the human resources potential of the nuclear industry in Türkiye, while also providing us with the opportunity to share knowledge and inspire future engineers. I hope that some of these young people will become part of the Akkuyu Nuclear A.Ş. team in the future.”
Panoramic View and Student Impressions
The visit ended at the observation deck with an impressive panoramic view of all the facilities of the NPP under construction. The students shared the deep impressions of visiting Türkiye's first nuclear power plant site:
Kıraç Kaya, a first-year student in the Electrical Program: “The scale of the project impressed me a lot: the site is huge and there is intensive work in all areas. The knowledge we received from the experts and managers of NPP will be useful to me when preparing my thesis and later in my professional life. After getting to know the NPP construction site, I would like to go to Russia to study and then work here, at Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant.”
Another student said: “We were given a lot of interesting information about the work of the NPP, and most importantly, the experts explained everything in a clear and understandable language. I would love to work at an NPP in the future, I was especially interested in the possibility of obtaining a double diploma for participants of the training program.”
The Akkuyu NPP field visit by OSTİM Technical University students was an important experience in terms of increasing young people's interest in the nuclear energy sector and discovering their potential to make a career in this field in the future. Such technical visits contribute to the strengthening of university-industry cooperation and the training of qualified human resources.
