CONSULTING

electricity generating company (EÜAS). 99 The ongoing problems with the financial viability of
AREVA will affect its ability to invest in the project. Construction is currently expected to start in
2017. However, an Environmental Impact Assessment, which could take up to two years, is still
outstanding. 100
The project is complicated by the region’s lack of large-scale demand and the existing coal power
stations, so 1,400 km of transmission lines will be needed to take the electricity to Istanbul and
Ankara. Reports at the end of 2014 suggested that the project would be further delayed, by up to
two years—the fourth delay in two years. This has led to extreme frustration with the bidders,
with one company representative saying of the process: “They’re basically at the point where no
one believes them anymore.” 101
İğneada
In October in 2015, the government suggested that it was aiming to build a third power plant, at
the İğneada site. The most likely bidders for the project are said to be Westinghouse and the
Chinese State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC), with Chinese companies
“aggressively” pursuing the contract, said to be worth US$22-25 billion. 102 The Daily Sabah
newspaper noted that “the İğneada district is located some 10 kilometers south of Turkey’s border
with Bulgaria and famous for its natural beauty and beach, which is likely to raise questions as to
its environmental impact. 103 Additional doubts have been raised by the Deputy Undersecretary
for the Turkish Ministry of Energy and National Resources, who stated that “having three different
projects with three different technologies is not sound.” 104
A decision by the Prime Minster of Vietnam of July2011 stated that by 2020 the first nuclear
power plant will be in operation, with a further 7 GW of capacity to be in operation by 2025 and
total of 10.7 GW in operation by 2030. The previous October Vietnam had signed an
intergovernmental agreement with Russia’s Atomstroyexport to build the Ninh Thuan-1 nuclear
power plant, using 1200 MW VVER reactors. Construction was slated to begin in 2014, with the
turnkey project being owned and operated by the state utility Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).
However, numerous delays have occurred and in December 2015, Atomic Energy Agency
Director-General Hoang Anh Tuan that construction would start in 2020, a six-year delay of the
99 WNN, “Turkish utility eyes large stake in Sinop project”, 12 May 2015, see http://www.world-nuclearnews.org/C-Turkish-utility-eyes-large-stake-in-Sinop-project-12051501.html,
accessed 1 July 2016.
100 NW, “IEA head voices support for Turkish nuclear program”, 1 October 2015.
101 NIW, “Weekly Review”, 27 September 2015.
102 NEI, “Turkey finalizes site for third NPP”, 18 March 2016, see
http://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsturkey-finalizes-site-for-third-npp-4843161/, accessed 1 July 2016.
103 Daily Sabah, “Turkey reveals location of planned third nuclear plant”, 14 October 2015, see
http://www.dailysabah.com/energy/2015/10/14/turkey-reveals-location-of-planned-third-nuclear-plant,
accessed 1 July 2016.
104 NIW, “Akkuyu EIA Approved: A New Consortium Emerges”, 1 December 2014.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. 48 World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2016