CONSULTING

In Turkey, up to three projects are being developed, but rather than proceeding with a single
builder and design, the Government has decided to undertake at least three different reactor
designs and three different sets of financial sources. Analysts have pointed out that the “regulatory
framework for nuclear energy in Turkey has severe shortcomings”. 82
Akkuyu
The first project, on the southern coast, is at Akkuyu, which is to be built under a Build-Own-
Operate- (BOO) model by Rosatom of Russia. An agreement was signed in May 2010 for four
VVER1200 reactors, with construction originally expected to start in 2015, but now delayed until
at least 2016, and to cost US$20–25 billion for 4.8 GW. At the heart of the project is a 15-year
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which includes 70 percent of the electricity produced from
units 1 and 2 and 30 percent of units 3 and 4. Therefore 50 percent of the total power from the
station is to be sold at a guaranteed price for the first 15 years, with the rest to be sold on the
market, where the average industrial price was 24.4 kurus/kWh ($US 0.08/kWh) in 2015. 83
The CEO of Akkuyu JSC (the project company set up by Russia’s Rosatom) Alexander Superfin, said
in October 2013 that the project was going to be operational by mid-2020. 84 However, further
delays have occurred as there were problems with Akkuyu JSC's Environmental Impact
Assessment, which was rejected by the Ministry of Environment, when it was submitted in
July 2013. When it was eventually approved in December 2014, it was said that the commissioning
of the first unit was likely to be in 2021. 85 In January 2015, both the Chamber of Turkish Engineers
and Architects (TMMOB) 86 and Greenpeace started legal proceedings against the approval,
claiming that the Agency had insufficient qualified staff to make the decision and that there were
no clear waste management plans or nuclear liability arrangements. 87 As a result of these
domestic developments and financing problems, it was reported in November 2015 that the
operation would now occur only in 2022 88 and at an estimated budget for the two units of
82 İzak Atiyas, “A Review of Turkey’s Nuclear Policies and Practices”, Sabancı University, EDAM, Centre for
Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, EDAM Discussion Paper Series 2015/5, 12 August 2015, see
http://www.edam.org.tr/en/File?id=3174, accessed 1 July 2016.
83 Turkish Statistical Institute, “Electricity and Natural Gas Prices, II. Period: July-December, 2015”,
Press Release, 30 March 2016, see http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/PreHaberBultenleri.do?id=21585, accessed
1 July 2016.
84 Orhan Coskun, Humeyra Pamuk, “Turkey's first nuclear plant facing further delays-sources”, Reuters,
7 February 2014, see http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-nuclear-delay-idUKBREA160P220140207,
accessed 1 July 2016.
85 WNN, “Akkuyu project EIA gets ministry approval”, 1 December 2014, see http://www.world-nuclearnews.org/NN-Akkuyu-project-EIA-gets-ministry-approval-01121401.html,
accessed 1 July 2016.
86 Hurriyet Daily News, “Chamber to sue state over abrupt green light to Turkey's first nuclear plant”,
2 January 2015, see http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/chamber-to-sue-state-over-abrupt-green-light-toturkeys-first-nuclear-plant.aspx?pageID=238&nID=76419&NewsCatID=340,
accessed 1 July 2016.
87 NIW, “Briefs—Turkey”, 9 January 2015.
88 Sputnik International, “First reactor of Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear plant to start operating by 2022”,
19 November 2015, see http://sptnkne.ws/afE3, accessed 24 June 2016.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 46 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016