Türkiye Eyes Nuclear Power Plant at Sinop on Black Sea Coast

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler hosted roughly 150 scientists from the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) in Ankara in April 2006 to discuss the country's nuclear energy ambitions. Guler told reporters afterward that nuclear power is a necessity for Türkiye, not simply a policy option, and that research in the field has been underway for 56 years.

TAEK Chairman Okay Cakiroglu said a preliminary site study had been conducted at Sinop, on the Black Sea coast, with the Inceburun area found to be geotechnically suitable. A final location decision was expected within a year, and construction of a plant could take approximately 60 months once begun.

Cakiroglu noted that Akkuyu, in the southern province of Mersin, remains a viable alternative site. Officials steered toward Sinop partly because Akkuyu is a tourist destination, though he stressed the southern site has not been abandoned entirely.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had already designated Sinop as the preferred city for the facility earlier that week.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.