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U.S. Trade and Development Agency Deputy Director Thomas Hardy said Türkiye has cooperation opportunities with the U.S. on small modular reactor investments and that USTDA could play a role as Ankara evaluates nuclear energy projects.
Speaking at a roundtable at the Washington Foreign Press Center, Hardy discussed USTDA's operations and answered questions about the agency's priority areas in Türkiye in the coming years, as well as whether new projects for the country were being assessed.
Hardy said USTDA's work with Türkiye is expected to continue across digital projects, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and energy, while signaling that new announcements in nuclear energy could come in the near future.
Hardy said USTDA hosted a delegation from Türkiye in May to assess cooperation opportunities with U.S. companies and institutions in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
He described the meeting as very productive.
"When we look at the Türkiye program, digital projects will continue to make up an important part of our programs," Hardy said.
Hardy also said he visited Türkiye this year and met with the energy and natural resources minister, adding that there was strong consensus that USTDA could play an important role as Türkiye considers investments in small modular reactors, or SMRs.
He said Turkish officials had emphasized the importance of nuclear energy for base-load electricity needs.
Hardy also pointed to USTDA's long and successful record in geothermal energy in Türkiye, saying the agency had taken part in many geothermal and digital infrastructure projects.
"I think this record of success is the reason why the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources wants to work more closely with USTDA to help American companies recognize existing opportunities for energy projects in Türkiye," Hardy said.
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Hardy said USTDA may make new announcements in the field of nuclear energy in the coming period, covering both the public and private sectors.
"I recommend that you closely follow announcements from USTDA in the near future in the field of nuclear energy, both in the public and private sectors," Hardy said.
He said USTDA's role is to help prepare the groundwork for countries to make investment decisions when SMRs are ready for commercial and fleet-level deployment.
Hardy said the U.S. industry on SMRs is still at an early stage and that some initial deployments have taken place, but more work remains.
"USTDA's mission is to lay the groundwork so that countries can make these investment decisions when these reactors are ready to be deployed commercially and at fleet level," Hardy said.
Hardy said part of USTDA's work could involve cooperation with Turkish government counterparts on regulations that would support the deployment of SMRs.
"I think part of our work will be to cooperate with our counterparts in the Turkish government to ensure that regulations are put in place to support the deployment of SMRs," Hardy said.
He also highlighted the strength of Türkiye's private sector, saying the country has many large private sector organizations with industrial capacity that may need both heat processes and electricity generation that nuclear energy could provide.
Hardy said the USTDA could also speak with private sector partners in Türkiye to help them assess how nuclear energy and SMRs could support base-load electricity generation, as well as heat production for the industrial capacity of the Turkish economy.
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