Construction and production license applications for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Turkey's first nuclear power project, were recently submitted to the concerned authorities.Kürşad Tosun, Licensing and Public Relations director at Akkuyu NPP, confirmed that they submitted an application for an electricity generation license to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) on Feb. 28 and applied to the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) for a construction license on March 3.Tosun, at the 4th International Nuclear Power Plants Summit, made a presentation on Akkuyu NPP, titled "Russia's Nuclear Experience and the Akkuyu Project." He said that they have applied for permission regarding the eastern part of the power plant, adding that the permission process was ongoing."Radiation monitoring devices will be installed in 16 different locations, and the relevant permission process is going on at the moment. Two emergency management centers will be established. We have recently been working with TAEK and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) on field selection. Buildings and social facilities will be established for the operational period in the plant, and the application process with strategic investments will start soon."As Akkuyu NPP is the first of its kind in Turkey, legislative amendments required to acquire a power generation license from the EPDK for the project were met last June.Referring to the environmental impact assessment for Akkuyu, which was obtained in December 2014, Tosun said they bought an energy production pre-license from the EPDK on June 25, 2015.Akkuyu, world's first to follow a 'Build-Possess-Operate' modelAkkuyu Nuclear Inc. Quality Control and Industrial Safety Director Igor Kogay noted that Akkuyu is the first nuclear power plant project in the world to be built with a "Build-Possess-Operate" model, saying that the plant will be the world's first 3+ nuclear power plant as well. Kogay said the license for power plant construction would be obtained after a limited practice certificate is received. "The development of all of this will start in accordance with the approval of our documents. The first concrete will be laid in the last quarter of 2017 after the limited practice certificate is received," he said.According to Kogay, energy purchase contract negotiations with the Turkish Electricity Trade Contracting Inc. are ongoing, while engineering design work has largely been completed.Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Central Vocational Development Institute (CICE & T) Vice Rector, Professor Vladimir Artisyuk, said Turkey is a country with great potential in the nuclear area. He said that their institute would focus on developing human resources for the project.