Key Highlights from the Turkish Nuclear Market in 2025

The year 2025 marked a pivotal turning point in Türkiye’s nuclear energy program, reshaping the sector’s risk profile and signalling the beginning of a new investment era. With the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) moving into advanced commissioning of Unit 1, the country shifted from construction-based uncertainty to operational validation. This transition significantly strengthened investor confidence, demonstrating clear alignment between engineering progress and policy momentum.

Türkiye’s nuclear roadmap is now firmly anchored to long-term national energy goals—7.2 gigawatts (GW) by 2035 and 20 GW by 2050. Nuclear power is positioned as a strategic pillar supporting energy security, industrial growth, and net-zero ambitions, making it central to Türkiye’s broader economic and technological transformation.

Equally defining was the strategic shift toward a competitive multi-vendor ecosystem. Building on the relative stability of Akkuyu, Ankara engaged major technology holders—including the U.S., South Korea, Canada, China, and France—to secure diversified access to Generation III+ reactors, fuel strategies, and advanced nuclear know-how. This competitive environment strengthens national bargaining power and ensures future projects embed technology transfer, manufacturing localization, and export-driven capacity building. The following analysis examines the most significant confirmed developments of 2025 and outlines their commercial implications across Türkiye’s expanding nuclear landscape.

1. Akkuyu NPP Unit 1: De-Risking Commissioning and Strengthening Reliability Outlook

Progress at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Mersin during 2025 confirmed its transition from construction to the final pre-operational stage, significantly reducing uncertainty for stakeholders and reinforcing confidence in the planned 2026 commercial operation date.

During the second half of 2025, Unit 1 advanced into its full commissioning phase, where every system undergoes rigorous validation under both expected and beyond-design stress conditions. Akkuyu Nuclear JSC General Manager Sergey Butckikh highlighted that this stage ensures lifetime safety performance and is the final step before regulatory clearance for fresh fuel loading.

Key milestones achieved in Q4 2025 demonstrated technical maturity. Rosatom confirmed shipment of the final Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) for Unit 1—removing a major supply-chain risk. Additionally, the delivery of the highly sophisticated Automated Process Control System (APCS), comprising more than 42,000 components, marked a critical readiness threshold for integrated systems testing and regulatory advancement.

Since groundbreaking, the project has injected over USD 11 billion into the national economy, generating extensive secondary economic benefits across logistics, fabrication industries, and engineering talent pipelines. According to Butckikh, Akkuyu has become a “living economy,” enabling thousands of SMEs to scale capabilities.

Commercial dynamics are now shifting. As large civil engineering phases conclude, contracting demand is moving decisively toward high-technology service domains—Quality Assurance/Quality Control, cybersecurity, APCS system installation, advanced software integration, and operational digital architecture. For financial institutions, the project’s advancing status transitions risk from construction uncertainty to operational readiness, stabilizing cost forecasts and increasing investor confidence ahead of first fuel.

2. Strategic Diversification: Advancements in Second and Third NPP Planning

Türkiye’s nuclear strategy entered a new phase in 2025 as the government advanced negotiations for its second and third planned nuclear power plants at Sinop and Thrace. The year was defined by the establishment of a competitive, multi-vendor procurement environment prioritizing technology diversification, affordable energy supply, and mandatory transfer of nuclear know-how.

Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar confirmed that a potential trilateral model—bringing together the United States and South Korea—is actively under assessment for the second plant. This formal step brings Generation III+ designs, such as the APR1400 and U.S. reactor technologies, into direct commercial competition for Türkiye’s next large-scale nuclear build.

A major milestone supporting this direction was the Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation MoU signed with the United States in September 2025. Structured to support technology transfer, fuel cycle cooperation, joint investment, and capacity-building, the agreement aligns closely with the requirements of a future Section 123 Agreement and reinforces Ankara’s long-term non-proliferation and technology development alignment. It also covers both large reactors and SMR pathways.

In parallel, the proposed 5.6 GW Thrace Nuclear Power Plant—featuring China’s CAP1400 technology under SPIC—further expands the diversity of Türkiye’s nuclear partnerships. This multi-vendor competitive framework now gives the government leverage to demand stricter industrial participation, technology transfer, and deeper collaboration than the precedent set by Akkuyu, positioning the Sinop and Thrace tenders as fully open to global EPCs willing to meet strategic requirements.

3. Localization Mandate and Industrial Capacity Building: Exceeding 50% Local Content

Türkiye’s localization strategy was decisively reinforced in 2025 as the country achieved measurable proof that nuclear infrastructure can function as a catalyst for national industrial development. The Akkuyu project surpassed expectations with a confirmed 56% local content rate, generating approximately $7.5 billion in economic value—figures publicly verified by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Salih Sari, General Director for Nuclear Energy and International Projects, affirmed that Türkiye now aims to elevate this contribution to $10 billion by the end of 2028.

This progress demonstrates more than financial impact: it has stimulated broad industrial demand. Akkuyu alone consumed 140,000 tons of reinforcing steel bars and 1.3 million cubic meters of concrete, delivering substantial growth to the iron, steel, and cement industries and proving that nuclear projects have deep and scalable domestic economic multipliers.

Equally significant is the systemic upgrade of Türkiye’s industrial capabilities. Participation in Akkuyu required Turkish manufacturers—such as producers of cables, metal structures, and pipe systems—to undergo rigorous nuclear-grade certification. This compliance demanded advanced technologies, stringent quality assurance, and specialized workforce development, creating a resilient domestic supply chain with internationally competitive qualifications.

With this foundation established, the government now considers the use of certified Turkish suppliers a mandatory condition for future nuclear developments, including Sinop and Thrace. For global bidders, leveraging this existing industrial ecosystem is no longer optional—it is a strategic requirement to ensure competitive pricing, regulatory alignment, and minimized supply chain risk for upcoming nuclear contracts.

4. Formalizing the Future: Strategic Ambition for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

Türkiye entered a defining phase in 2025 as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) shifted from exploratory interest to a structured national objective supported by quantified goals and active global engagement. Policymakers confirmed a dedicated target of 5 GW of SMR capacity, establishing a distinct market category separate from large-scale reactor deployment. Unlike traditional baseload plants such as the VVER-1200 units at Akkuyu, SMRs are positioned to address specialized energy needs—from industrial hubs and data centers to remote regions requiring uninterrupted, zero-carbon power where grid expansion may be economically impractical.

International collaboration accelerated meaningfully, with formal discussions underway involving leading SMR technology holders from the U.S., Canada, and France. These negotiations are supported by financing avenues, such as U.S. EXIM Bank frameworks, which strengthen commercial feasibility and underscore Türkiye’s credibility as a long-term nuclear development partner.

One of the most forward-looking developments is Türkiye’s ambition to evolve beyond deployment and into manufacturing leadership. The formation of the Nuclear Technopark signals this trajectory, serving as a nucleus for research, innovation, and talent development. Active engagement with companies such as Rolls-Royce and Westinghouse aligns with this vision, encouraging foreign firms to view entry into Türkiye not merely as a vendor transaction, but as an opportunity for localized joint ventures, component manufacturing, and regional export positioning.

With the 5 GW objective now formalized, SMRs represent a strategically defined, investment-ready segment—one expected to serve domestic needs while unlocking a broader commercial role across regional energy markets.

5. Domestic Innovation and Ecosystem Development: The National Technology Initiative Call

A decisive shift unfolded in 2025 as Türkiye signaled that its nuclear targets extend far beyond deployment and localization. The launch of the “Domestic Nuclear Reactor Development Call” in September—under the National Technology Initiative—marks the first formal step toward achieving true indigenous nuclear design capability and long-term technological independence.

Announced by Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır, the program focuses on developing high-technology reactors using domestic industrial production capacity. Its strategic purpose is clear: enhance national energy security, substantially reduce reliance on foreign nuclear reactor technologies and fuel cycles, and ensure alignment with Türkiye’s carbon-neutral obligations.

The initiative requires coordinated research among TENMAK, TÜBİTAK, and leading universities, forming a structured innovation ecosystem designed to accelerate research, prototyping, and market readiness.

Integration into the National Technology Initiative—which also governs critical sectors such as defense and artificial intelligence—ensures enduring political support, priority funding, and national-level strategic oversight. This placement also highlights the program’s potential relevance to dual-use nuclear research pathways.

As a result, a new investment arena has emerged. The initiative introduces long-term commercial opportunities for defense-linked firms, technology investors, and advanced manufacturing entities focused on compact nuclear systems, high-assurance fuels, and next-generation materials science. This call positions nuclear innovation as a core pillar of Türkiye’s advanced industrial transformation—and a defining platform for sovereign technological leadership.

Moving Forward

Türkiye’s nuclear trajectory has now moved beyond proving technical feasibility — it is entering a phase of commercial maturity where investment strategy, supply chain positioning, and long-term technology partnerships will define competitive advantage. With commissioning activities at Akkuyu progressing toward operational readiness in 2026, investor confidence is shifting from uncertainty to measurable projection, enabling more sophisticated financing models and industrial participation frameworks.

The introduction of a multi-vendor ecosystem, combined with legally anchored requirements for technology transfer and localization, signals a structural evolution: future projects will no longer be transactional procurement exercises, but long-horizon industrial cooperation agreements. This shift places Türkiye among a small group of emerging nuclear economies leveraging nuclear power not only for energy security, but also as an export-ready industrial capability.

Looking ahead, the coming years are expected to unlock unprecedented commercial momentum — particularly as SMR deployment plans, domestic R&D programs, and localization mandates converge. For global technology providers, EPC contractors, component manufacturers, and financial institutions, the window opening now represents a rare inflection point: early engagement in Türkiye’s nuclear build-out could secure long-term strategic positioning in a market designed to scale well into the 2030s and 2040s.