Likhachev threatened Siemens with lawsuits for non-delivered equipment

German conglomerate Siemens will be sued for failing to deliver paid equipment to Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant (NPP). Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said on January 4.

"Obviously, there will be lawsuits. The prepaid equipment was not delivered. It has brought us additional expenses both for the specific purchase of equipment and for adjusting the terms of installation of this equipment," Likhachev said in an interview withRossiya 24 TV channel.

He specified that Siemens "defiantly refused" to supply equipment already assembled and ready for transportation, which had been paid for specifically for the Turkish project.

Likhachev added that because of this incident, the construction may be delayed by no more than three months. At the same time, the overall progress of the work is going according to plan.

Earlier, on December 12, 2024, it was reported that the turbine installation was completed at Unit 1 of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. The turbine shaft started its rotation at low speed for the first time. The quality of the turbine assembly was confirmed by experts after checking the correct alignment of all its elements.

On October 9, 2024, Anton Dedusenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Akkuyu Nuclear, said that full-scale works have started before the start-up of Unit 1 of the Akkuyu NPP in Turkey, which is being built under the project of Rosatom. The Akkuyu Nuclear chairman emphasized that the construction of the three remaining units of the NPP is in full swing. According to him, more than 34,000 people are involved at the site.

Before that, on October 7, 2024, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia is studying the possibility of building a second nuclear power plant in Turkey at the Sinop site and is preparing optimal solutions for the project. Novak also said that possibilities of realizing energy facilities in Indonesia are being studied at the moment.

Last September, the dome of the outer containment shell, which is an important safety element, was installed at Akkuyu NPP. After concreting, the walls of the containment dome will be 1.5 meters thick. The station is also equipped with an inner shell, which serves as a support for pipelines and a polar crane.

On June 7, 2024, Alexei Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Corporation, said that the launch of the first power unit of Akkuyu NPP will take place in 2025. On April 23, Rosatom held a ceremony of shipment of a set of heavy equipment from the Russian plant Atommash for the third power unit of the Turkish NPP. At that time, the company specified that the plant is working on the production of key equipment for the fourth power unit. Also in April, Akkuyu NPP Unit 1 started full-scale commissioning works.