Türkiye is holding talks with the United States on the construction of large-scale nuclear power plants and small modular reactors (SMR), a senior Turkish Energy Ministry official said on Tuesday.
“The USA is showing serious interest in Türkiye’s goal of increasing its nuclear energy capacity and building new power plants,” Yusuf Ceylan told Reuters at a conference on nuclear power plants.
Asked about the projects under discussion, he said: “We can consider the areas of existing power plants or new power plants.”
“We are negotiating with the USA for both large-scale power plants and small modular reactors. This is a statement of intent,” he said.
Last month, US Ambassador to Türkiye Jeff Flake told Reuters that Ankara “talked to us and others about (building) small modular reactors.”
Ceylan said negotiations continued with South Korea and Russia for a second nuclear power plant planned to be built in the Black Sea region of Sinop, and with China's SPIC for a third nuclear power plant in northwest Türkiye’s Thrace region.
The construction of Türkiye's first 4,800 MW nuclear power plant by Russia's Rosatom is continuing at Akkuyu in Türkiye’s Mediterranean region.
Ankara plans to build three four-reactor nuclear plants and complement them with SMRs for a total of 20,000 MW generation capacity to diversify its electricity production mix.
The United States earlier held talks with Türkiye on the construction of SMRs, which are still under development. However, no reports showed that the two sides were negotiating large-scale power plants that require billions of dollars of investment.
In May, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said that Türkiye and the US are ready to collaborate in the energy and mining sectors.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 39th American-Turkish Conference in Washington, the Minister said: “We are ready to enhance our bilateral cooperation with the US in the field of energy, minerals and liquified gas.”
US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Energy Resources Geoffrey R. Pyatt earlier emphasized the importance of the ongoing talks on energy between Ankara and Washington.
He said both countries have opportunities for cooperation in small modular reactors in nuclear energy and energy transition. Their cooperation comes at a time when the energy issue has become one of the most important global priorities since the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Pyatt had visited Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria in October 2022 to meet government officials and energy sector leaders for bilateral discussions. In Ankara, he held talks with Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, and other Turkish officials.
