Turkey and Japan agreed on Friday they would seek to conclude a deal for Tokyo to help build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant after talks between Ankara and Seoul apparently fell through.
The countries are aiming to seek a deal within three months on a nuclear plant in Turkey’s Black Sea coastal town of Sinop, a project estimated by analysts to possibly cost $10 billion.
Turkey wants to build two nuclear plants to reduce its dependence on imported energy and cover a looming power shortfall and it assessed bids from several countries after talks with South Korea languished.
It has reached an agreement with Russia to build its first nuclear power plant on its southern shore and the licensing process has already begun.
The Sinop plant, which would have four reactors and generating capacity of 5,600 megawatts, is targeted to start operations in 2019, Turkish government officials have said.
Friday’s agreement is part of a broader nuclear power cooperation pact between the two countries. Japan, the world’s third-biggest nuclear generator after the United States and France, has concluded similar agreements with 10 other governments, the latest one with Kuwait in September.
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yýldýz will visit on Saturday Tokyo Electric Power Co’s 8,212-MW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in northern Japan, which has advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs).
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has 2 ABWRs and 5 boiling water reactors (BWRs). Although the plant was forced to shut in July 2007 following a strong earthquake in the region, the company has since restarted 4 out of the plant’s 7 reactors.
Earthquake-prone Turkey wants about 10,000 MW of nuclear capacity installed by 2023, according to Reuters Project Finance International.
Reuters