Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi: 

Distinguished presidents, distinguished minister, distinguished CEO of Rosatom, dear friends,

Occasions like this come few and far between. As it was rightly said, Turkiye enters today a new phase in its economic development, a new phase in which the name of the country figures among those who have embraced the promise of atoms of peace, the promise of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It has been said many times that the world faces a number of challenges. One of those, of course, is economic development, moving forward, having the energy to feed our economies and bring welfare to our people, while doing it in a way that is not harmful for the environment at a time of global warming and climate change.

Nuclear energy is a clean source of energy. The four formidable units that I have visited today will bring no less than 10 percent of clean energy for the country.What a feature for this country in such a short period of time. Of course, nuclear energy is a complex matter that brings a lot of good and also responsibility. This is why the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been associated with this project from the very beginning, by providing technical assistance, by helping to forge the Turkish workforce that, along with its Russian partners, is going to be manning this facility, by marking sure that the Turkish independent regulator will have all the elements to apply the safety and security standards that are required.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Nuclear must always be a force of good. From nuclear power plants, only good things should come. And this is why, on this celebratory occasion, I must say that we need international support; we need everybody’s support to make sure that no nuclear accidents will emanate from the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. We need your support so that every time we talk about nuclear energy, we will do it in the spirit we are doing it today, here, at Akkuyu: a spirit of hope, a spirit of success.

This republic is celebrating 100 years this year, and in 100 years, Akkuyu will still be producing clean nuclear energy for the country. You can count on the IAEA every step of the way. Thank you very much.