Turkey’s first nuclear plant to start trial production in 2025

Turkey is to begin trial production at its first nuclear plant in 2025, energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Ankara plans to load the first fuel in its more than 90 percent complete first reactor at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant next year, he said in a post on the social messaging platform X.

More than 30,000 workers are engaged in completing the project, he said.

The 4,800 megawatts (MW) Akkuyu plant will cost $20 billion, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported, adding the country aims to build at least three nuclear power plants to generate 15,000MW.

These will be complemented with up to 5,000MW of small modular reactors to diversify its electricity production mix.

Bayraktar said construction of Akkuyu’s four reactors is progressing rapidly, with the remaining three reactors expected to come online by the end of 2028.

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“We need to have all four reactors operational by 2028,” he said.

The electricity produced from these reactors will meet 10 percent of Turkey’s electricity needs, reducing carbon emissions by 35 million tonnes.

Turkey plans to add 7.2 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2035, with a longer-term goal of 20GW by 2050, including small modular reactors.

“The government’s next goal is to make a final decision regarding the Sinop and Thrace projects by 2025,” the minister said.