“We are also discussing with Canada, China and Korea” regarding the Sinop nuclear power plant project.

Energy Minister Alfarslan Bayraktar Turkiye announced that Russia is interested in the second and third nuclear power plant construction project promoted by Turkiye.

Minister Bayraktar said this in an interview with the Turkic daily Sabah reported on the 6th (local time), saying, "Russia wants to transfer the experience and manpower of the Akuyu nuclear power plant to Sinov."

He also said, "In addition to Russia, we are also discussing other nuclear power plants with Canada, China, and Korea. We plan to make a decision and complete the legal agreement process in the next few months."

Minister Bayraktar said that Turkiye is conducting research and development with the goal of independently producing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and securing technology by 2030, adding, "We will catch up with the nuclear era and become an SMR exporter."

Minister Bayraktar's remarks on this day appear to be an extension of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin separately at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Kyrgyzstan on the 1st, and leaving open the possibility of further cooperation, saying, "We will also take steps together to build new power plants."

Türkiye is planning to build power plants in the Sinop and Thrace regions, following the Akuyu nuclear power plant that Russian state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom has been building in Mersin, south of Türkiye, since 2018.

In particular, the Sinop nuclear power plant, which Minister Bayraktar pointed out that day, is attracting attention in that it is a project in which the possibility of Korea's participation in the future has been raised.

When President Lee Jae-myung visited Türkiye last November and had a summit meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, KEPCO and Türkiye Nuclear Power Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on nuclear reactor technology and site evaluation.

However, since then, Turkiye authorities have continued to mention other countries, such as Canada and Russia, as possible partners for cooperation.

Last June, Minister Bayraktar visited Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, where Canada's CANDU reactor technology is applied, toured the facilities, and said, "We are conducting research on partners and countries to cooperate in this field in relation to the selection of technologies to be applied to power plants to be built after the Akuyu nuclear power plant," and said that SMR is a subject of discussion.