Davutoğlu Says Ordered '100 Pct National Nuclear Plant' Be Built

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said he has ordered a "100 percent national" nuclear plant to be built in five years.

He told reporters after a three-hour meeting at the Ministry of Energy on Tuesday that he ordered what he called a "100 percent national" nuclear plant be built, and that it should open in 2018 or 2019. He said he asked the ministry to make necessary preparations once the country has the required "brain power."

Turkey does not currently have any nuclear power plants, but has plans for three, including a controversial facility in Mersin. The other two plants are planned for the Black Sea province of Sinop and the northwestern province of Kırklareli. Several protests have been staged in opposition to the plans.

Construction on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Mersin was to begin in April or May of this year -- as soon as Russian state-run nuclear company Rosatom received an environmental impact report from the Turkish government. But the report has yet to be provided.

The second Turkish nuclear plant, to be built by a Japanese-French consortium, will be ready come 2023, the same year as the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

In May 2013, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Itochu Corp. and France's GDF Suez agreed to build Turkey's second nuclear power plant at an estimated cost of $22 billion. The 4,800-megawatt plant in the Black Sea town of Sinop will use Atmea1 reactors developed by MHI and French Areva.

Turkey currently does not have the ability to build its own nuclear plant, but the Turkish government is making efforts for students to study nuclear energy abroad.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)