Tukey is planning to add 5,000 MW of capacity from small modular reactors as it aims to deliver 10-15% of its electricity from nuclear power by 2050, minister for energy and natural resources Alparslan Bayraktar said.

He said the 2050 target includes 12 large-scale reactors, including four already under construction at Akkuyu and an additional eight units at Sinop and and Igneada.

Akkuyu is on the Mediterranean coast on the southern province of Mersin, Sinop is on the Black Sea in northern Turkey and Igneada is in Thrace, also on the Black Sea, not far from the Bulgarian border.

Akkuyu will have four Russia-supplied VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units. Unit 1 was originally expected to enter commercial operation by the end of 2025 with the remaining units coming online by 2028. Bayraktar said recently that the first unit at Akkuyu is scheduled to begin commercial operation next year.