Turkey Aiming for 23 Nuclear Reactors

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Turkey is planning one of the most ambitious nuclear build projects in Europe by announcing its goal of having 23 reactors up and running by 2023.

The lofty target was announced by Taner Yildiz, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East, North Africa and Eurasia, held in Istanbul this week.

"We want to meet our increasing energy needs by erecting at least 23 nuclear units by the year 2023," he told Forum delegates. "We are a country without a nuclear power plant. However, we are determined to have nuclear power plants. This implies building nuclear power plants in three regions of Turkey."

The country has no nuclear power plants at present but Yildiz sees no obstacles to his country going from zero to one of the biggest European nuclear power users in little more than decade. In April, Industrial Info reported on Turkey's state-owned electricity producer Elektrik Uretim AS (EUAS) (Ankara, Turkey) signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canadian nuclear power company Candu Energy Incorporated (Mississauga, Ontario) with regard to the proposed construction of a nuclear plant at the Black Sea port city of Sinop.

The plant is expected to have a generating capacity of 3,000-megawatts (MW) and will cost 15.9 billion ($20 billion). Thanks to the cooling facilities afforded by the Black Sea, this could be expanded to up to 6,000 MW. For additional information, see April 26, 2012, article - Turkey's EUAS, Candu Energy Sign Agreement for Nuclear Plant in Sinop.

Also in April, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a letter of intent to cooperate on nuclear energy with China on his official state visit. For additional information, see April 11, 2012, article - Turkey and China Sign Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement.

Turkey has advanced its first nuclear project, a 4,800-MW plant consisting of four reactors, to be built at Mersin-Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast. It will be constructed by a consortium led by Russia's Atomstroyexport (Moscow), with work expected to kick-off next year.

Speaking at a Forum panel discussion entitled "The New Energy Corridor," Yildiz said nuclear power was a sign of a country's increased development and denied that the tragic nuclear accident at Fukushima in Japan last year would slow down Turkey's ambitions.

"We can relate a country's development to the number of nuclear power plants it operates," he claimed, adding that the events at Fukushima "do not affect decisions to have and operate nuclear power plants."

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