Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation (TUNAS) and the US Trade and Development Agency have signed a cooperation agreement to study designs for small modular nuclear reactors and fourth-generation reactors developed by US companies, with a budget of about $2 million and a duration of at least one year.
Turkey's Energy Ministry said the agreement was signed during a ceremony held at the Turkish House in New York, attended by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Technical, economic and regulatory assessment
Under the agreement, small modular reactor designs from four US companies will be studied, along with five different fourth-generation reactor designs, from technical, economic and regulatory perspectives and in terms of licensing requirements.
The study will also assess the reactors' design characteristics, costs, licensing status and related supply chains, as well as analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and sources and models of financing.
The study will also cover licensing procedures, emergencies, design safety, site selection and legal frameworks. Technical reports are to be prepared after the analyses are completed, with the US Trade and Development Agency funding the study.
Through this agreement, we will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the applicability of next-generation nuclear energy technologies in our country from technical, economic and regulatory perspectives
Diversifying the energy mix
Bayraktar said in a post on social media: “We are determined to diversify our energy mix in line with our goals of achieving net-zero emissions by 2053 and full energy independence.”
The agreement comes as part of Turkey's efforts to expand its nuclear capacity and diversify electricity-generation sources, alongside the development of the country's first nuclear power plant. It aims to assess US nuclear technologies that could be incorporated into Turkey's future plans before decisions are made on their technical, economic and regulatory viability.
Earlier civil nuclear cooperation
On September 25, 2025, Bayraktar signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic cooperation in civilian nuclear energy with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump at the White House.
