Turkish market appealing to US for small modular nuclear technologies

By Gulsen Cagatay

Türkiye offers an attractive market for US companies to develop small modular reactors, demand for which is set to increase globally, according to Justin Friedman, a senior advisor at the US State Department, in an exclusive interview with Anadolu.

These small, medium-sized, or modular reactors have been advocated by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a viable option to fulfill the need for flexible power generation in a wide range of applications and in an extensive market.

Small modular reactors (SMRs), deployable either as single or multi-module plants, also offer the possibility of combining nuclear power with alternative energy sources, including renewables.

SMRs not only have the ability to meet the needs for flexible power generation but can also replace aging fossil fuel-fired power plants, according to Friedman.

"The list is very long. Instead of coal power plants, SMRs can be an alternative. I think many people now understand that nuclear is part of the climate solution," he said.

Because of the ability of SMRs to provide a base-load energy source that is needed for a healthy energy system, Friedman said that interest in small, medium, or modular reactors has been on the rise worldwide.

This has been witnessed by the 22 countries that signed the 'Three Times Nuclear' by 2050 pledge to triple nuclear generation capacity by 2050 from a base year of 2020 at the COP 28 conference held in November.

With the vast experience in nuclear energy and SMR technology the US has accumulated, many countries, including Poland, Czechia, Romania and Bulgaria, have availed of this knowledge transfer.

- US to provide financing opportunities for SMR development

The US Export Import Bank (EXIM) has recently announced financing opportunities for the development of SMRs, Friedman said.

"You can develop SMRs with US partners because there is financing available. It's a sign of our commitment to working together to help partners achieve their net zero goals," he added.

Furthermore, the Sapporo Five Agreement, in which five countries—the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and France—decided at the Net Zero Nuclear Summit at COP28 in Dubai, UAE, to mobilize $4.2 billion to develop the global nuclear supply chain, will allow the provision of a safe and available supply of enriched uranium to feed all these nuclear reactors.

The investments are set to improve uranium enrichment and conversion capacity up to 2027 and establish a secure and resilient global uranium market.

One of the main aims of developing this technology is to offer an alternative energy supply to avoid dependence on Russian energy resources over time.

"We have agreed together that we will work to help everyone who is dependent on Russian energy supplies," he said.

To this end, the US is working very closely with Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

Regarding Türkiye​​​​​​​'s involvement in this burgeoning industry, he confirmed that the US and Türkiye, having had many fruitful and productive discussions last year, are now at the stage of developing a joint work plan, although he conceded that there is much work to be done.