ISTANBUL
Turkish people are paying huge amounts for imported energy, a nuclear power summit in Istanbul has heard.
Koray Tuncer, president of B2B Matchmaking Society, was speaking at Thursday’s "Nuclear Power Plants Summit," sponsored by The Anadolu Agency.
Saying that Turkey imports huge amounts of natural gas to generate electricity, Tuncer stated that everybody here pays a high price.
"We are all in unconsciousness about how we generate the electricity we use in our homes and industries," Tuncer said.
"We are here to raise people’s awareness about nuclear energy," he added.
"Turkey is going to build its own nuclear power plants in the future," Tuncer said, adding: "Domestic firms’ technology and know-how transfer in nuclear technologies should be supported."
Tuncer also pointed out the importance of energy efficiency saying: "Energy efficiency should be included in school systems’ curriculum."
Turkey's decision to switch to nuclear energy for producing electricity is "one of the most logical decisions" in terms of diversifying its energy mix, said Dr. Sule Ergun, summit chair.
"We carry the will for nuclear energy, but we need to maintain background and experience as well," she said.
The most important component of the nuclear technology is security, said Ergun. "Security measures are at the top of any nuclear summit," she added.
She said topics such as supply chain management, localization, safety and human resources are among the subjects to be discussed at the two-day event.
Turkey and Russia's state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom will build Turkey's first nuclear power plant on Turkey's Mediterranean coast which will cost $22 billion and become fully operational in 2023.
Turkey is planning to construct its second nuclear power plant on its northern coast in Sinop -- expected to be built by Japan and operated by France -- and it's in talks with the U.S. and China to build a third nuclear plant.
