Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 6
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
The project to build a third nuclear power plant in Turkey could be implemented in the province of Thrace in northwestern Turkey, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey told Trend Sept. 6.
It is expected that the third nuclear power plant in Turkey will be built jointly with China, the ministry noted.
The ministry also noted that the construction of nuclear power plants in Turkey is in demand due to the need to provide the country with electricity.
"Part of the imported natural gas from Russia is used to produce electricity, and this forces Turkey to build a nuclear power plant," the ministry said.
In early April, the Turkish province of Mersin hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for laying foundation of Turkey's first nuclear power plant "Akkuyu", which was attended by the Presidents of Turkey and Russia - Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.
The agreement on the construction of Akkuyu NPP was signed on May 12, 2010 in Ankara between the Russian and Turkish governments, and on December 13 of the same year Akkuyu Nuclear JSC was registered. The Akkuyu NPP project involves the construction of four power units with Russian WWER-1200 reactor plants of 3+ generation that meet the highest post-Fukushima safety standards. The capacity of each unit will be 1200 MW. The cost of the project is estimated at $20 billion.
Turkey intends to build another nuclear power plant in Sinop in the north of the country with Japan's participation, the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant with the participation of Russia.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
