Local firm assists with Chernobyl reactor cover
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet
This file photo shows what remains of the Chernobly nuclear plant following the 1986 nuclear explosion in the Ukraine. Hürriyet photo
Efforts to create a new cover for Ukraine’s former Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of a 1986 nuclear disaster, are underway with contributions from 23 nations and a budget of $1.6 billion euros. Turkey’s Okyanus Group will be in charge of constructing rust-resistant steel panels to line both the inside and outside of the reactor’s cover.The project envisions constructing a giant cover or vault to close off the plant’s number four reactor, so that radioactive particles do not mix with the atmosphere, Okyanus Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Osman Güney said.
The construction materials will be designed to last for 100 years, and will be able to withstand 170 km/hour winds. The cover will be built at a separate location and then placed over the reactor.
Expertise was firm’s edge
“In this project our firm’s expertise is with rust-resistant steel panels, which will be used on the inside and outside of the cover. What gave us an edge in the tender was not so much our price, but our technical capabilities. Of course we are all very proud that a Turkish firm was chosen for such a highly technical project,” said the chief executive officer.
The Chernobyl reactors in former Russia exploded in 1986 during a routine experiment and resulted in history’s worst nuclear disaster. After the explosion, the reactors began to leak radiation. A few months after the disaster, a small team, working under extremely dangerous conditions covered the reactor with a temporary cover, but this cover is both outdated in 25 years and is not suitable to today’s standards. The latest project is expected to be completed by 2016.
Turkish company to build 3 hydro plants
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet
Turkey’s Cet İnşaat will build three hydroelectric power plants in Belarus valued at $300 million, the company’s civil engineering general manager, Erhan Aydıner, has announced.
“Our talks took over a year. We have signed an agreement to build a 33 megawatt plant in Beshenkovihi and a 13 MW plant in Verkhedvisk. We will sign another deal for a 20 MW hydroelectric plant in a month,” said Aydıner.
Construction is expected to begin in 2012 and the plants will be based on a 30-year build-manage-transfer model, Aydıner said, adding that Belarus had guaranteed that it would buy electricity from Cet İnşaat, which will charge a $0.06-per-kilowatt fee.
“This is not a high fee, and because it is a long-term guarantee, this is beneficial to us,” said Aydıner.
The total investment will be 66 MW, Aydıner said. Furthermore, the construction firm will use the latest turbine technology to increase the height of the dams and produce 10 MW of extra electricity from the three dams. This will be the company’s first dam project.
Cet İnşaat has so far focused its investments in Ukraine.
“Belarus is a developing country. We saw this and thought long and hard about this decision. We’ve started with energy but are thinking of other projects like office space and luxury apartments,” he said.
On average, 1 MW of power can supply electricity to as many as 300 U.S. households per year.
