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Turkey To Build Third Nuclear Station In Cooperation With China, Says Minister

By David Dalton
9 August 2018

9 Aug (NucNet): Turkey will build a third nuclear power station in the Thrace region northwest of Istanbul, and will cooperate with China on the project, energy minister Fatih Donmez was reported as saying.

President Tayyip Erdogan announced the project for the third nuclear station last week, but gave no details at the time of who would build it or what technology would be used.

Mr Erdogan said the country’s first nuclear station at Akkuyu, being built with Russian reactor technology on the Mediterranean coast, 500 km south of Ankara, will meet 10% of the country’s energy needs with another 10% or more met by a second nuclear station to be built with Japan at Sinop on the Black Sea.

Mr Donmez also told broadcaster A Haber that the first of four units at Akkuyu is expected to begin commercial operation in 2023. Earlier reports in Turkey had given 2026 as the startup date.

In April 2018 Turkey confirmed to the International Atomic Energy Agency that construction of Akkuyu had begun.

The IAEA said four units with a total capacity of 4,800 MW of the Russian VVER technology are planned for construction in cooperation with Russia.

Turkey and Russia signed an agreement for the construction and operation of Akkuyu in In May 2010. Three years later, an intergovernmental agreement was signed with Japan to develop Turkey’s second nuclear power station project at Sinop.

The IAEA said Turkey decided to introduce nuclear power to meet a surge in energy demand and reduce its dependence on imported energy sources, which amounted to 72% of its total energy consumption in 2016.

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