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In 2025, Türkiye’s nuclear programme was approaching important milestones. Earlier plans envisaged trial production at the country’s first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu, during that year, alongside an ambition for 5,000 megawatts of small modular reactor capacity by 2050.
The timetable needs qualification: trial production in 2025 was a stated target, rather than an accomplished event. Later official updates should be read separately from those original plans.
- Akkuyu is in Mersin province on the Mediterranean coast.
- The project is being developed with Russia’s Rosatom and has a planned total capacity of 4,800 megawatts, across four reactors.
- Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar’s earlier statements and the account summarised here described:
- the first unit as more than 90% complete at the reported stage; this is a dated progress claim, rather than a current completion measurement;
- fuel loading and trial electricity production in 2025 as planned milestones. The initial production target was subsequently moved to 2026.
- Once all units are operating, the plant is expected to:
- supply electricity equivalent to roughly 10% of Türkiye’s demand, depending on the comparison year and future demand;
- reduce the need for some imported natural gas used in electricity generation.
The government’s plans discussed in 2025 included:
- 5,000 megawatts of additional capacity from small modular reactors, or SMRs;
- a wider ambition for nuclear power to provide:
- around 10–15% of electricity generation by 2050. These figures are retained as part of the earlier account, not presented as final contracts or unchanged current targets.
The proposed advantages of SMRs include:
- possible deployment near demand centres or industrial areas, subject to siting and safety requirements;
- a potentially smaller upfront investment per unit than a large conventional reactor, rather than a guarantee of cheaper electricity;
- the ability to add modules in stages;
- a source of continuous, low-carbon power that could complement solar and wind generation, with operational flexibility depending on the design.
- Türkiye aims to reduce dependence on imported oil and gas, including supplies from Russia and Iran, by:
- increasing renewable energy;
- developing domestic Black Sea gas;
- adding nuclear power as another major source.
- Officials presented this period as a turning point for the nuclear programme.
> Alongside Akkuyu, Türkiye was pursuing two further large nuclear projects, at Sinop and in Thrace.
These were plans and negotiations, rather than confirmation that every final investment decision had been completed in 2025.
Despite official support, critics have raised:
- the strategic implications of relying on a single Russian partner for Akkuyu;
- questions about preparedness for:
- nuclear waste management;
- plant safety in an earthquake-prone country.
The government’s response is that:
- reactor designs must meet international safety requirements;
- nuclear generation is important to long-term energy security.
- The 2025 policy discussion combined:
- the earlier target of trial production at Akkuyu’s first unit, subsequently revised rather than achieved on that original schedule;
- an ambition for 5,000 megawatts of SMRs by mid-century.
- If the programme is delivered successfully:
- nuclear power could become a major source alongside gas and renewables;
- this could substantially change Türkiye’s energy system and its regional energy relationships.
The Energy Ministry reported the loading of dummy fuel assemblies into the first unit’s reactor vessel as a rehearsal for real fuel loading and tests of mechanical, hydraulic, thermal and structural systems. This was not confirmation of commercial generation.
The ministry’s page updated on that date described Akkuyu construction as continuing, Sinop and Thrace as planned, and SMR infrastructure and international cooperation as being prepared. It set an overall nuclear ambition of 20 GW and around 30% of electricity generation in 2053, not achieved capacity or generation. It estimated full Akkuyu output at about 35 TWh per year, equivalent to around 10% of Türkiye’s 2024 consumption of 347.9 TWh; the comparison year matters.
The timetable needs qualification: trial production in 2025 was a stated target, rather than an accomplished event. Later official updates should be read separately from those original plans.
Akkuyu: Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant
- Akkuyu is in Mersin province on the Mediterranean coast.- The project is being developed with Russia’s Rosatom and has a planned total capacity of 4,800 megawatts, across four reactors.
- Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar’s earlier statements and the account summarised here described:
- the first unit as more than 90% complete at the reported stage; this is a dated progress claim, rather than a current completion measurement;
- fuel loading and trial electricity production in 2025 as planned milestones. The initial production target was subsequently moved to 2026.
- Once all units are operating, the plant is expected to:
- supply electricity equivalent to roughly 10% of Türkiye’s demand, depending on the comparison year and future demand;
- reduce the need for some imported natural gas used in electricity generation.
Small modular reactors: a longer-term ambition
The government’s plans discussed in 2025 included:- 5,000 megawatts of additional capacity from small modular reactors, or SMRs;
- a wider ambition for nuclear power to provide:
- around 10–15% of electricity generation by 2050. These figures are retained as part of the earlier account, not presented as final contracts or unchanged current targets.
The proposed advantages of SMRs include:
- possible deployment near demand centres or industrial areas, subject to siting and safety requirements;
- a potentially smaller upfront investment per unit than a large conventional reactor, rather than a guarantee of cheaper electricity;
- the ability to add modules in stages;
- a source of continuous, low-carbon power that could complement solar and wind generation, with operational flexibility depending on the design.
Nuclear power within Türkiye’s energy strategy
- Türkiye aims to reduce dependence on imported oil and gas, including supplies from Russia and Iran, by:- increasing renewable energy;
- developing domestic Black Sea gas;
- adding nuclear power as another major source.
- Officials presented this period as a turning point for the nuclear programme.
> Alongside Akkuyu, Türkiye was pursuing two further large nuclear projects, at Sinop and in Thrace.
These were plans and negotiations, rather than confirmation that every final investment decision had been completed in 2025.
Concerns and criticism
Despite official support, critics have raised:- the strategic implications of relying on a single Russian partner for Akkuyu;
- questions about preparedness for:
- nuclear waste management;
- plant safety in an earthquake-prone country.
The government’s response is that:
- reactor designs must meet international safety requirements;
- nuclear generation is important to long-term energy security.
The outlook
- The 2025 policy discussion combined:- the earlier target of trial production at Akkuyu’s first unit, subsequently revised rather than achieved on that original schedule;
- an ambition for 5,000 megawatts of SMRs by mid-century.
- If the programme is delivered successfully:
- nuclear power could become a major source alongside gas and renewables;
- this could substantially change Türkiye’s energy system and its regional energy relationships.
Separate official update: 9 June 2026
Updated planning context: 23 July 2026
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