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Turkish contractor IC Holding has unveiled plans to build up to 20 small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Türkiye and nearby markets under a long-term partnership with U.S.-based ARC Clean Technology, the company's chair said.
The company, one of the contractors involved in Türkiye's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, is targeting 10 of these reactors with a combined capacity of 1,000 megawatts (MW) in Türkiye, while another 10 could be developed in nearby markets as part of its long-term expansion strategy.
Murad Bayar, chairman of IC Nuclear Technology, revealed that the company's roadmap is built around an agreement signed with ARC Clean Technology in April to deploy the U.S. company's sodium-cooled SMR technology.
"We want to establish not only an SMR investment in Türkiye but also a long-term technology platform for developing, licensing, localizing and commercializing SMR technology while building its supply chain," Bayar told Reuters.
The companies are currently negotiating a licensing agreement focused on commercializing the technology. Bayar noted that the partnership is expected to cover Türkiye, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, while ARC will continue leading activities in Europe and the United States.
Bayar expects the first commercial plant using ARC's technology to begin operating in either the United States or Canada within four to eight years.
In parallel, the conglomerate aims to obtain approval from Türkiye's Nuclear Regulatory Authority within the next four years to move ahead with its domestic projects.
Bayar estimated the first plant would require an investment of $500 million, based on a cost of $5 million per MW. He noted that large-scale conventional nuclear power plants currently require average investment costs of around $7,000 per kilowatt, while first-of-a-kind SMR projects are expected to cost about $5,000 per kilowatt.
As production scales up and designs become standardized, that figure is expected to fall to around $3,000 per kilowatt, reducing the investment cost of a 100 MW reactor to roughly $300 million.
ARC Clean Technology is a Canada- and U.S.-based nuclear technology developer behind the ARC-100, a 100 MW Generation IV sodium-cooled SMR.
Earlier this year, publicly listed Turkish energy technology company YEO Teknoloji invested in ARC at a company valuation of $60.4 million.
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