ANKARA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The opening of Türkiye's first nuclear power plant has been postponed after Germany's Siemens Energy withheld critical components, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar said Wednesday.
The delay will push back the launch of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant's first reactor by a few months, Bayraktar told the semi-official Anadolu Agency.
"There is equipment related to the nuclear island that Siemens has yet to deliver, which is still in its warehouses. The equipment, used in the construction site, ensures the transmission of electricity. Unfortunately, it has the effect of slowing down the construction," he said.
The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, located in southern Türkiye's Mersin province, is being built and will be operated by Russia's state nuclear power conglomerate Rosatom. It is designed with four nuclear reactor units, each with a 1,200-megawatt capacity.
The construction began in 2018 and is scheduled to complete in 2026.
The decision by Siemens was likely influenced by Western sanctions on Russia amid the Ukraine crisis, Bayraktar said.
"This approach will make us reconsider their role in future projects," he said, hinting at applying fines to the German publicly-traded energy corporation.
