ANKARA — Turkey has selected the site for its first nuclear reactor.
Officials said Turkey would construct its first nuclear power facility
in the Black Sea province of Sinop. They said a 100 megawatt pilot nuclear
reactor would be completed by 2010.
In all, the government reviewed eight sites for its first nuclear
reactor, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said construction of the Sinop facility would begin in
2007.
"In the next three to three and a half years, we will build our nuclear
reactor, producing 100 megawatts from uranium," Okay Cakiroglu, director of
the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency, told parliament on April 12.
Cakiroglu said Sinop fulfilled 43 criteria set by an Energy Ministry
panel for a nuclear reactor. He cited water supply, mild climate,
transportation and relative safety from earthquakes that have
struck Turkey.
Officials said Turkey plans to build three nuclear reactors in Sinop.
They said the facilities would contain a combined capacity of 5,000
megawatts.
Sinop would also contain a nuclear technology center, Cakiroglu said. He
said his agency had also recommended the construction of nuclear reactors in
the provinces of Kirklareli and Konya.
