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Türkiye's state nuclear company TUNAS signed an agreement with Canada’s AtkinsRealis to assess CANDU reactor technology for a potential new nuclear power plant, moving to a feasibility and front-end engineering design (FEED) phase.
The agreement, signed with AtkinsRealis subsidiary Candu Energy Inc. during the U.N. climate conference COP31 in Antalya, will support potential investment decisions.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Canadian Environment, Climate Change and Nature Minister Julie Dabrusin attended.
TUNAS General Manager Necati Yamac and AtkinsRealis Nuclear President Joe St. Julian signed the deal, witnessed by AtkinsRealis President and CEO Ian L. Edwards.
TUNAS is looking to build a second nuclear plant in Sinop on the Black Sea, and AtkinsRealis is proposing six Enhanced CANDU 6 reactors totaling 4,500 megawatts.
The study is set to be completed by the end of 2027.
The studies will examine site selection, adaptation of the reactor technology, plant operations, financing and economic viability, as well as Turkish industry participation, workforce development, localization, implementation schedules, cost estimates and risk assessments.
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Türkiye is also in advanced talks with Canada and South Korea as it seeks to build two more plants alongside its first, the Akkuyu plant being built by Russia’s Rosatom.
South Korea signed memorandums with Türkiye last week on energy cooperation and nuclear financing.
"The most critical and indispensable dimension of the process for us is the maximum participation of our domestic industry and the development of our qualified human resources," Bayraktar wrote on X.
"This process, encompassing feasibility and front-end engineering design, will provide an extremely reliable basis for our final investment decisions by ensuring the project’s technical and commercial maturity," he said, adding it would clarify Türkiye's long-term nuclear roadmap and strengthen supply security.
The deal builds on a nuclear cooperation memorandum signed during Bayraktar’s visit to Canada in March, with preliminary feasibility work nearing completion.
Bayraktar also discussed CANDU technology with Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Oct. 22 visit to Ankara.
CANDU technology has operated in Romania for about 30 years, and AtkinsRealis is bidding for a new plant in Poland.
"If we could secure Poland and Türkiye, then we’ve got this ecosystem on the east of Europe that’s beginning to build out," Edwards told Bloomberg.
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