Turkey’s Big Nuclear Energy Ambitions

 

Turkey’s elusive quest for harnessing nuclear energy dates back to times which most of us perceive only through the black-and-white footage of 1950s and stories of our parents and grandparents. Launched by President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace program, it took off steadily as by 1956 Turkey already boasted a reactor research facility not far away from Istanbul, on the shores of lake Küçükçekmece. By the 1970s the Turkish authorities have pinpointed the most suitable site for the construction of a nuclear plant – they have chosen Akkuyu on the Anatolian coast, making use of its proximity to the sea, low population density and at the same time closeness to big demand hubs, as well as its low seismic activity.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Seals Multi-Billion Dollar Nuclear Power Deal With Britain

As Australia allows for China to take over a strategic military port, Great Britain allows for its nuclear power infrastructure to be compromised.

 

In the first major Chinese investment in a Western nuclear facility, China’s General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) will take a one-third stake in the planned 18 billion-pound ($28 billion) Hinkley Point nuclear plant controlled by France’s EDF.

State-owned CGN will also take a two-thirds stake in the Bradwell nuclear plant east of London, where it plans to build a Chinese-designed reactor, and a one-fifth stake in a project for Areva designed reactors at the Sizewell plant.

“We will build a global, comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries in the 21st century and jointly open up a golden era,” Xi told reporters via a translator, adding that the nuclear deal was a flagship investment.