Turkey wants to join the nuclear energy club

The Turkish Akkuyu nuclear power plant project has entered the activation phase, before entering the actual operational phase. Turkey is thus moving closer to its vision of a country sustained by a stable and secure energy source without relying on imports, such as gas.

The Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacir, explained that the objectives are to ‘improve energy supply security, reduce dependence on external sources and support carbon emission reduction targets through high-tech nuclear reactors developed with local industry capabilities’.

He also announced that universities and research institutions will be enlisted to help develop the first national nuclear reactor as part of the ‘Development of Indigenous Nuclear Reactors’ programme.

He called on social media for more institutions to participate until 31 December 2025: ‘Turkey is forging its own path in nuclear energy technologies and strengthening its independence and power.’

Initially, it is expected to meet the electricity demand of 10% of the Turkish population for at least 60 years.

In addition, this project will create many job opportunities, as thousands of Turkish students were sent to Russia to learn how to operate nuclear power plants such as Akkuyu.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan corroborated this, stating that the nuclear plant will contribute $50 billion to Turkey's GDP.

Russia's presence stems from the involvement of the state-owned company Rosatom in the project. This raises certain doubts, such as those raised by energy expert Sarah Khan, who explained that each stage depends on Russia, putting Turkey in a vulnerable position on the geopolitical stage.

Ankara is already in a tense relationship with the European Union, and Moscow does not have good relations with the West (one example being the war in Ukraine) and is subject to economic sanctions.

But despite the geopolitical challenges and the uncertainties of being caught between a rock and a hard place between the West and Russia, the nuclear energy project is still going ahead due to its importance.

Russian Ambassador Alexei Ekhov told the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet that the Akkuyu plant ‘is gradually approaching its actual commissioning, despite the pandemic, the earthquake and the sanctions.’

Turkey's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparsan Bayraktar, explained in his speech at the Turkish Ministry's Nuclear Energy Technology Design Competition that the country's energy demand is constantly on the rise.

‘Additional demand is expected to reach approximately 945 terawatt-hours by the 2030s,’ the minister said.

The Akkuyu nuclear power plant includes four reactors with a capacity of 4.8 gigawatts, and, according to experts, it still needs eight additional reactors along with other smaller ones.

In any case, according to Assahifa, once the Akkuyu plant, located on the Mediterranean Sea, is completed, Turkey plans to build two more plants to reach a capacity of 20 gigawatts by 2025.