Turkey’s ambitious plans to build 12 large nuclear reactors at three sites might still not be enough as the country seeks to increase energy security and further reduce its imports of natural gas from Russia.

Turkey’s deputy energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Nikkei Asia (subscription) that the country needs more reactors because the 12 already under construction or planned “will not be enough if we consider the 2050-70s”.

He said Turkey is also considering the deployment of small modular reactors. He told Nikkei that Marisa Lago, the US Commerce Department’s undersecretary for international trade, and the new US ambassador to Turkey Jeffry Flake visited him to discuss the potential introduction of SMR technology to Turkey.

Last week, Ms Lago hosted the Eurasia Small Modular Reactor Forum in Ankara, an event also attended by representatives from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.