| Sinop Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
| Country |
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| Coordinates | 42°05′11″N34°58′12″E / 42.0864°N 34.97°E /42.0864; 34.97 |
| Status | Proposed |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity |
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| External links | |
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TheSinop Nuclear Power Plant (Turkish:Sinop Nükleer Enerji Santrali) is a proposednuclear plant in Turkey located atSinop on theBlack Sea. If constructed, it will be the country's second nuclear power plant afterAkkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. As of 2025, the Ministry of Energy stated that the project was likely to be awarded toRosatom, right after Akkuyu's completition.[1][2]
The deal for the project on abuild-operate-transfer (BOT) basis was signed between Turkish Prime ministerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and hisJapanese counterpartShinzo Abe in May 2013. The project would have been carried out byAtmea, a joint venture consortium of JapaneseMitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and FrenchAreva. Turkey, being geographically on a highly active earthquake-prone zone, relies on top-level safety know-how and experience of Japanese experts against earthquakes.[3]
MHI andItochu planned to build the power plant, which would have a capacity of around 4,480 MWe.[4][5] Fourgeneration IIIpressurized water reactors (PWR) of typeATMEA1 developed by Atmea would have been installed in the nuclear plant.[3] French electric utility companyEngie would have been in charge of the operation of the nuclear plant. It was intended that Turkish Electricity Generation Corporation (EÜAŞ) would have 20-45% shares in the nuclear plant.[3]
On May 3, 2013, the then Turkish prime ministerRecep Tayyip Erdoğan and hisJapanese counterpartShinzō Abe, signed a deal over US$22 billion for the construction of the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant that would have been carried out by a joint venture consortium of JapaneseMitsubishi Heavy Industries and FrenchAreva.[6] FourAtmea reactor would have been used, to enter service from 2023 to 2028.[7][6]
As of June 2015, the total project cost was estimated at approx. $15.8 billion, of which 70% would be debt financed.[8] It was projected that the first unit of Sinop plant would be active by 2023, and the fourth unit would enter service by 2028.[3][9][10] As of April 2018, the estimated project cost grew to more than $46 billion.[11]
In 2018 anenvironmental impact assessment application was submitted to the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry. Location and construction licenses are still to be obtained from the Turkey Atomic Energy Agency.[12][unreliable source?]
In April 2018,Nikkei reported that Itochu would withdraw from the project, while MHI and other investors were continuing the feasibility study through the summer of 2018.[11] The remaining members of the Japanese consortium abandoned the project in December 2018 after a failure to reach agreement with the Turkish government on financing terms.[13]
In 2018 the project was abandoned due to construction costs having almost doubled to about $44 billion, largely because ofpost-Fukushima safety improvements and the fall in the value of theTurkish lira.[14][15] Indicating that the feasibility study prepared by Japan did not conform with both the expense and the timeframe of the first deal, Turkey stated that Japan and Turkey had agreed to discontinue cooperation in January 2020. In September 2020, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization approved the finalEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of Sinop Nuclear Power Plant.[16]
In 2020 Turkey stated it may hold discussions with other possible suppliers.[17] Talks with China, Russia and South Korea were ongoing in 2023.[18] In 2023 negotiations started withRosatom for the construction of a large-scale plant with four power units.[19]
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