Congratulations to England on Ben Stokes’ spectacular win

I write to you in reference to Steve Luckings' article Ben Stokes century snatches victory from Australia in one of greatest Ashes innings of all time - in pictures (August 26).

This is an interesting multimedia piece on the unexpected victory of England against Australia in the third Ashes cricket Test match.

Ben Stokes’ superb unbeaten  knock of 135 drove England to a brilliant victory at Headingley ground.

Above all England won by one wicket, which kept the audience on its toes and made the match all the more interesting.

Kudos to Ben Stokes, he is truly a magnificent cricket player.

K Ragavan, Bengaluru

Safety is a top priority for us at the Akkuyu power plant

I write to you in reference to Andrew Wilks' article Akkuyu: Turkey's nuclear dream overshadowed by safety fears (August 13) about the construction of a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, Turkey and its impact on the environment and the safety of the future plant, which is majority-owned by Russian company Rosatom. We would like to clarify our position on the matter.

The Akkuyu project is based on the latest generation of the most modern proven technology that meets national regulations requirements and follows the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including post-Fukushima safety standards. The project design includes active and passive safety systems that provide protection against automatic failures and human factors.

Safety is a top priority for us, and the work carried out on the plant is under the supervision of an independent nuclear construction inspection and of the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority. Over the course of the project’s implementation, the Akkuyu site received more than 10 inspections and visits from various authorities, including IAEA.

Environmental assessments are always carried out at the time when nuclear power plants are being designed and this is a prerequisite for project licensing. An independent team of environment and project design experts prepared a report to assess environmental factors before the launch of the Akkuyu project. The Ministry of the Environment reviewed the report for regulatory compliance.

As for seismic concerns, Akkuyu NPP site is located at seismically sustainable area. However the project is designed to withstand earthquakes up to 9 points on the Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik scale (MSK-64). Fifteen seismic detectors were also installed for seismic exploration near Akkuyu.

Eyyup Lutfi Sarici, regional expert, Akkuyu Nuclear JSC