U.S.- based nuclear power company Westinghouse Electric Company, China’s State
Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and Turkey’s state-owned power
producer Electricity Generation Company (EUAS) have agreed to enter exclusive
talks to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey, Westinghouse said on
Monday.
The project involves development and construction as well as all
live cycle activities including operations, nuclear fuel, maintenance,
engineering, plant services and decommissioning, Westinghouse said in a
statement.
The plant will have four nuclear reactors based on
Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor technology.
Westinghouse currently has
eight AP1000 units under construction worldwide. The company has also recently
signed shareholder agreements for the development of AP1000 plants at nuclear
plant sites in the UK and Bulgaria, it added.
Turkey currently has
projects for two nuclear plants. In 2011, the country’s energy ministry
contracted Russian company Rosatom to build and operate a 4,800 megawatt (MW)
nuclear power plant in the southern province of Mersin. In 2013, a consortium of
Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Itochu Corp. and France’s GDF Suez agreed
to build a nuclear plant with a capacity of about 4,500 MW in the Black Sea town
of Sinop.
The Turkish government also plans to start the construction of its
third nuclear power plant with its own resources by 2018-2019, local news agency
Anadolu Ajansi said in October citing the country’s prime minister Ahmet
Davutoglu.