Importance and Necessity for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy in Turkey

Abstract

This article expresses both importance and necessity for utilization nuclear energy in Turkey. Turkey's flirtation with nuclear power began in July 1955, when it signed a bilateral agreement with the USA to cooperate in the "peaceful uses of nuclear energy." Turkey is a net energy importer because it is not rich in energy resources. Today Turkey is producing 24.4 Mteo (million ton oil equivalent) of energy but consumes 87.8 Mtoe. The energy import ratio of Turkey is 72.21%. Turkish government officials believe that will be increased by about 8-10% annually up to 2010, which will necessitate an installed power production capacity of approximately 48.82 GW (gigawatts). However, Turkey's hydraulic power capacity for electricity is restricted to 245 billion kWh (kilowatt-hour). For supply security, Turkey has imported coal power plants and nuclear power plants for fuel diversification against natural gas, which the Electric Sector will heavily depend upon after year 2005. The Turkish government has announced plans to build three nuclear reactors by 2015. Site selection studies of the Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) started in 1972 in Turkey. The first reactor is planned to be built at Sinop Bay on the western Black Sea coast and is scheduled to start operation in 2010.