Türkiye has taken an important step to ensure that thorium, a nuclear energy raw material, is used in innovative technologies. Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mining Research Agency (TENMAK), the relevant organization of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, signed a memorandum of understanding with Denmark-based Copenhagen Atomics. With the signatures signed in the presence of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, studies will be carried out to use thorium in new generation nuclear technologies. Thanks to these studies, it will be aimed to produce thorium compounds with domestic means.
Evaluating the memorandum of understanding, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar stated that the signatures have a different feature and said, "I hope this cooperation will yield results and the work in this field will turn into a product that can be commercialized in the future. This cooperation is important since it is a different fuel, especially thorium." he said.
R&D CAPACITY
TENMAK and Copenhagen Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding to improve R&D capacity in the field of innovative nuclear technologies. Minister Bayraktar accompanied the signing ceremony held at TENMAK Istanbul Çekmece Campus.
THE NEW ERA OF NUCLEAR: SMALL MODULAR REACTORS
Minister Bayraktar made statements regarding the memorandum of understanding after the ceremony. Emphasizing that in addition to large-scale reactors, small modular reactors, which they describe as the 'new age of nuclear', have recently been developed very rapidly, Minister Bayraktar said, "Many countries in the world are working on developing this technology. Turkey is also involved in important activities in this regard and many projects are running in parallel. Investors in Türkiye are trying to carry out these projects jointly with our public institutions. Apart from that, there has been a serious interest thanks to the incentive program put forward by our Ministry of Industry and Technology. We also 'different technologies' "We are working with the idea of 'How can we bring it to our country?' Because in this process, which of these will go further and become truly commercial will become clear in the next few years." he said.
THORIUM FUEL FEATURES
Stating that the signature signed between TENMAK and Copenhagen Atomics has a different feature, Minister Bayraktar said, "Thorium fuel stands out in Copenhagen Atomics' technology in small modular reactors. Thorium has a special importance because it is a technology that is widely available in our country and we think that the fuel will not be dependent on foreign sources in this sense. I hope this cooperation will yield results and the studies in this field will turn into a product that can be commercialized in the future. It is a different fuel, especially thorium." This cooperation is important for us and this relevant company will carry out these studies together with TENMAK and our relevant institutions.” made his assessment.
LOCAL CONTRIBUTION
With the agreement reached, domestic industry and technology stakeholders, researchers and engineering capacity will be included in the process to utilize Turkey's thorium resources in high value-added nuclear technologies.
MOLTEN SALT REACTORS
One of the priority topics of the work will be R&D and project activities aimed at producing thorium in Turkey, which can be used in Molten Salt Reactors, one of the new generation nuclear reactor technologies. In this direction, it is aimed to produce thorium compounds that meet nuclear fuel standards with domestic means and to make Turkey an internationally effective supplier in this field.
MODULAR REACTOR
Denmark-based Copenhagen Atomics is conducting R&D studies on Molten Salt Reactors, one of the 4th generation reactor concepts that can enable the use of thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle. Focusing on the Modular Molten Salt Reactor concept, which they call Onion Core, the Danish company will evaluate this technology in terms of Turkey's research infrastructure, human resources and industrial capabilities within the framework of its cooperation with TENMAK.
