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Türkiye’s nuclear energy company, TÜNAŞ and South Korea’s power utility KEPCO have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on nuclear energy cooperation on Monday.
Speaking at the signing ceremony along with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the talks about building a nuclear power plant in Türkiye continued, and the memorandum of understanding was an important step.
“With this agreement, we aim to carry out joint work in many areas, ranging from the development of nuclear power plant projects, technology and know-how sharing, site evaluation, project financing and human resources development,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said in a post on X.
Bayraktar earlier said Ankara might work with Seoul on its second planned nuclear power plant. Apart from the nuclear power plant in Mersin, in the country’s south, which is currently being developed by Russia’s Rosatom, Türkiye has expressed plans to have two more plants, in the northern province of Sinop and in its Thrace region.
Turkish officials have also often conveyed aims to complement these with small modular reactors (SMRs) as they target 20 gigawatts (GW) in nuclear capacity by the 2050s.
Earlier this month, the energy minister said they also held talks with Canada-based AtkinsRealis, discussing “opportunities of CANDU technology for the nuclear power plants we plan to build in Sinop and Thrace region.”
As President Erdoğan hosted his South Korean counterpart, he said there is significant potential for cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and battery technologies, innovation and renewable energy. He also said that the meeting focused on steps to advance defense industry cooperation between the two countries.
“Our discussions with the relevant institutions on the establishment of a clean power plant are also ongoing,” Erdoğan said in a joint news conference with Lee.
“I see the memorandum of understanding signed earlier between the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and the Turkish Nuclear Energy Corporation (TÜNAŞ) as an important step. We are also in agreement with South Korea regarding counterterrorism,” he added.
The two presidents discussed cooperation in many areas, including trade, tourism, energy, defense, technology, and investments, Erdoğan noted.
They also agreed to continue cooperation in platforms such as the U.N., G-20, and the cross-regional consultative platform MIKTA.
At the same time, he also welcomed Hyundai’s new electric vehicle investment in Izmit and reiterated Türkiye’s support for Korean companies investing in the country.
