Nuclear energy in Turkey

Turkey's nuclear activities started soon after the first International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in September 1955. In 1961, a 1 MW test reactor at Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center was commissioned for educational and research purposes.[3] As stated by the World Nuclear Association, the first endeavour was a feasibility report in 1970 involving a 300 MWe facility. Then in 1973, the electricity authority unsuccessfully agreed to construct a demonstration plant of 80 MWe. In 1976, Akkuyu, a site 45 kilometers west of the southern city Silifke, was chosen as the nuclear power plant site. The Prime Ministry Atomic Energy Authority issued a license for this place.[4] An effort to develop multiple plants failed in 1980 due to a failure of ensuring financial guarantees by the government, that viewed coal plants as more favorable. Turkey suspended work on nuclear plants due to the Chernobyl disaster that occurred in the Soviet Union in 1986. In 1988, the TEK Nuclear Power Plants Department was closed.[5]

In 1993, a nuclear plant was included in the country's investment scheme. However, the revised bidding requirements were not issued until 1996. Bids were issued by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Westinghouse Electric Company-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries consortium and the Framatome-Siemens consortium for a 2000 MWe plant at Akkuyu. The final bid deadline was in 1997, but the government postponed its several times, until the preparations were scrapped due to financial difficulties.[2]

In May 2004, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler said "We will meet with the countries that produce these plants soon" and brought the issue of nuclear power plant back to the agenda. In his statement, Güler stated that the technical investigations on nuclear power plants are continuing and that negotiations will be held soon.[4] Güler announced that the construction of the first power plant will begin in 2007.[6] In 2006, the northern Turkish city of Sinop, located near the Black Sea, was designated to host a commercial nuclear power plant. According to World Nuclear Association, the Sinop site has the advantage of cooling the water temperature approximately 5 degree Celsius lower than those at Akkuyu, helping each thermal reactor to achieve approximately 1 percent greater power output. A 100 MWe demonstration plant was to be installed there. Subsequently, 5000 MWe of additional plants were to come into operation from 2012 onwards. For construction and service, a form of public-private partnership (PPP) has been anticipated. The government said it aimed to have a total of 4500 MWe of energy running from three nuclear power stations by the end of 2015. Talks were happening with AECL over two 750 MWe CANDU reactors. The pressurized water reactor was also favoured by the government. The first reactors, totalling some 5000 MWe, were to be installed at Akkuyu, as the location already was approved. At the same time, the licensing for Sinop was still progressing.[2]

A new legislation on the construction and maintenance of nuclear power plants was enacted by the Turkish Parliament in 2007.[7] The bill called for the establishment of requirements for the design and operation of the plants by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). It enables the government to grant purchase guarantees to firms for the total energy produced in nuclear power plants. Waste control and decommissioning were also covered by the bill. Turkey started to be subjected to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy. Criteria for developers who will built and run nuclear power plants were issued soon after this legislation.

A civil nuclear deal with the United States came into effect in 2008,[8] a nuclear cooperation deal with South Korea was established in June 2010,[9] and two more deals were signed with China in 2012.[10] The following year, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) performed the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) in Turkey to evaluate the country's advancement in the planning for a new nuclear power scheme. Although the review was positive, the IAEA advised Turkey to complete the national nuclear energy strategy and to improve the regulating agency.[2]

In May 2010, Russia and Turkey signed an agreement that a subsidiary of Rosatom would build, own, and operate a power plant at Akkuyu comprising four 1,200 MWe VVER1200 units. Construction of the first reactor has commenced in April 2018.[15] In February 2013, Russian nuclear construction company Atomstroyexport (ASE) and Turkish construction company Özdoğu signed the site preparation contract for the proposed Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. The contract includes excavation work at the site.[16]

The official launch ceremony took place in April 2015, and the first unit is expected to be completed in 2023.[17]

It will be the first build–own–operate nuclear power plant.[18]

On 3 May 2013, the then Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Japanese counterpart Shinzō Abe, signed a deal over US$22 billion for the construction of the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant that would have been carried out by a joint venture consortium of Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and French Areva.[19] Four Atmea reactor would have been used, to enter service from 2023 to 2028.[20][19]

In 2018 the project was abandoned due to construction costs having almost doubled to about $44 billion, largely because of post-Fukushima safety improvements and the fall in the value of the Turkish lira.[21][22] Indicating that the feasibility study prepared by Japan did not conform with both the expense and the timeframe of the first deal, Turkey stated that Japan and Turkey had agreed to discontinue cooperation in January 2020. In September 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization approved the final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of Sinop Nuclear Power Plant.[23]

Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Taner Yıldız has announced that the government is working on the plans of the third nuclear plant, which is projected to be built after 2023 under the management of Turkish engineers.[19]

In October 2015 it was announced that İğneada had been selected as the third site. Technology will come from US based firm Westinghouse Electric Company in the form of two AP1000 and two CAP1400.[20][24]

There have been anti-nuclear protests in the past, for example in April 2006, plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Ince peninsula caused a large anti-nuclear demonstration in the Turkish city of Sinop.[25] Greenpeace, who have expressed concerns over earthquakes and the ability of the authorities to protect the public, have opposed these proposals.[26] There are concerns that no site for the waste has yet been selected.[27]