Turkey continues planning its second and third nuclear power plants
Turkey is in talks with Russia, China and South Korea over its planned second and third nuclear power plants, and also in talks with USA and United Kingdom over small modular reactors (SMRs), Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar is reported to have told a media briefing
Turkey wants to speed up efforts on the planned second nuclear power plant in Sinop, and a third plant in the Thrace region, in the country's northwest, as Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said. In addition, small modular reactors are being proposed and considered as well.
The Akkuyu plant, in the southern Mersin province, is Turkey's first. Rosatom is building four VVER-1200 reactors under a BOO (build-own-operate) model. The 4800 MWe plant is expected to meet about 10% of Turkey's electricity needs.
Construction of the first Akkuyu plant unit started in 2018, with the aim being to have all four units up and running by 2028
According to the Daily Sabah he said that the country's energy demand was continuously growing and their first priority “is to ensure the security of supply in a sustainable manner", while also making Turkey carbon neutral by 2053. This means "radical changes are needed in all areas", and he highlighted plans for large-scale expansion of wind and solar power in the country, as well as energy-efficiency measures.
"By the 2050s, Turkey will have a nuclear-installed power of over 20,000 MW. […] Some of them may be large-scale power plants and others small modular reactors, which are very important for the transformation of our industry in energy"
He called the four-unit Akkuyu plant, being built by Russia's Rosatom, "the world's largest nuclear construction site", and said planning was under way for the next two proposed plants, with talks taking place with Russia, South Korea and China.
Last month Reuters reported Sari Salih, the head of nuclear infrastructure at the energy ministry, as saying Turkey was in talks with Russia and South Korea over its planned second nuclear plant, with China over the third proposed plant and with the UK, USA and France over SMR technology.
Source: World Nuclear News
