Turkey advances nuclear energy plans via US and Danish partnerships

Turkey is advancing its nuclear energy ambitions through new international partnerships focused on small modular reactors (SMRs) and thorium resources.

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed an agreement with Turkey’s state-owned nuclear enterprise, TÜNAŞ, to fund technical assistance. This USD 2 million initiative aims to create the regulatory, institutional, and financial roadmaps necessary for the Turkish private sector to deploy SMR technology. The study will evaluate various US reactor designs to determine their suitability for Turkey’s energy needs, supporting a national target to deploy 5,000 MWe of SMR capacity by 2050.

In a separate development, Danish company Copenhagen Atomics has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Turkey’s Energy, Nuclear and Mining Research Agency (TENMAK). The partnership focuses on the potential supply of thorium fuel from Turkey, specifically highlighting the Beylikova site in Eskişehir, which holds significant complex ore resources. Copenhagen Atomics intends to investigate the production of thorium fuel salts in Turkey to support the mass production of its molten salt reactors.