A new step is coming from the special section front in Turkey’s work in the field of nuclear power. Baykar Chairman of the Board Selçuk Bayraktar , in a statement made at the Nuclear Energy Technologies Design Competition held within the scope of TEKNOFEST, announced that they are conducting studies on small modular reactors.

Bayraktar stated that they have been working on SMR technologies with TMRS Energy for approximately 1.5-2 years and that he believes they can develop small modular reactors within a few years.

“One of the building blocks of energy independence”

Bayraktar pointed out that nuclear technologies, especially on the fuel and technology side, are largely under state control. Stating that SMRs can play a valuable role in Turkey’s power independence, Bayraktar liked this technology to the technological breakthrough experienced in aviation.

He stated that small modular reactors stand out because they are smaller and more modular than classic large-scale nuclear power plants, allowing for the gradual creation of capacity according to different power requirements.

Power is also critical for artificial intelligence

One of the striking points in Bayraktar’s statements was the relationship between artificial intelligence and power

.

Bayraktar stated that artificial intelligence infrastructures increasingly require electrical power, and pointed out that power is fundamental to information processing capacity. Saying that electricity consumption is rapidly increasing in the world, Bayraktar assessed that developments in SMR technologies are valuable not only from the perspective of the power sector but also from the perspective of the future technology ecosystem.

Bayraktar also stated that approximately

600 million people in the world still do not have access to power

, and said that SMRs could create a valuable opportunity in meeting the increasing power demand.

Türkiye has SMR goals

Baykar’s statement also aligns with Turkey’s official nuclear power policy. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources plans to include small modular reactors in Türkiye’s power portfolio alongside large-scale power plants.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar had announced that Turkey aims to reach 20,000 megawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050, and that this will include SMR technologies.

In previous statements, the Ministry had also raised the goal of adding at least 5 GW of SMR capacity to Turkey’s power portfolio within the next 20 years.

Nuclear research infrastructure is also strengthening

New developments are also taking place in Turkey’s nuclear technology infrastructure. Just as in the activity, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar announced that the TR-2 Research Reactor has been re-licensed. With the reactivation of the research infrastructure at the Çekmece site, it is aimed to conduct nuclear material tests and research activities again. Bayraktar’s statements show that Turkey is focusing not only on power plant investments in the field of nuclear power, but also on areas such as SMR, research infrastructure, human resources and domestic technology development. Selçuk Bayraktar announced that they have been working in the field of small modular reactors for 1.5-2 years and that they will be able to develop their own SMRs within a few years. Power, Nuclear, Türkiye, SMR, Bayraktar