Turkey is reassessing its major partner for a second NPP to be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez said on 19 January. He told the Anadolu Agency, that the time schedule and pricing of the nuclear power plant in Sinop fell short of the ministry’s expectations after the results of feasibility studies, carried out by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). “We agreed with the Japanese side to not continue our cooperation regarding this matter,” Dönmez said, adding that Turkey may hold talks with other suppliers for construction of the plant. The project was agreed on by the Japanese and Turkish governments in 2013. A consortium led by MHI was conducting a feasibility study until March for the construction of a 4,500MWe plant in Sinop.
Meanwhile, Dönmez said the construction licence for unit 2 of the Akkuyu NPP, being built by Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom was issued in August 2019 and that construction is expected to start soon. Turkey’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority is currently evaluating a limited work permit that will allow preparatory work to begin on unit 3, he added. An intergovernmental agreement was signed between Turkey and Russia in May 2010 for the Akkuyu NPP, which will have four VVER-1200 power reactors with a total installed capacity of 4,800MWe based on the world’s first a build-own-operate arrangement for a NPP.
