SMR cooperation with Washington offers Ankara key opportunity, says US Nuclear Energy Institute head

Small modular reactors (SMRs) could provide a promising avenue for nuclear cooperation between Türkiye and the US, offering Ankara a chance to “thrive” in the global SMR supply chain, according to the chief of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).

“SMRs is a great area for us to partner on. The United States is going to be very engaged in global nuclear, and if Türkiye and the US could work together on an SMR, I think it's a great opportunity for you to get in the supply chain for SMR,” Maria Korsnick told Anadolu on the sidelines of the State of the Energy Industry Forum in Washington.

“As we're building more SMRs, it's an opportunity for you to thrive as well in the supply chain. So, we welcome that opportunity,” she added.

Türkiye and the US signed a memorandum of understanding last September, during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the White House, to deepen Ankara’s nuclear energy partnership.

SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a power capacity of up to 300 MW per unit, about one-third of a traditional plant’s capacity.

They can be factory-assembled and transported on-site, offering lower costs, flexibility, low-carbon power and enhanced safety, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Korsnick, who has worked in the US nuclear industry for 40 years, described the sector as entering an unprecedented period.

“The outlook is vibrant here in the United States, not only for the current fleet of reactors that we have, which is 94 — we are going to increase that by bringing some that were shut down back in service. And you're going to see the first example of that this year with

She said as construction progresses on advanced technologies, additional permits are expected to be approved this year, including projects from TerraPower, X-energy and TVA.

“It's a very, very vibrant time right now in the US commercial fleet, and there's only going to be more,” she said.

Rising energy demand from data centers

Asked about the rising energy demand from data centres driven by artificial intelligence, the NEI chief noted that US tech companies are increasingly turning to nuclear power.

“You're going to have to have nuclear energy. And why is that? Because people not only want that reliable energy, but they want it clean, but they need it fast right now,” she said.

“You're going to hear more deals about gas and other forms of electricity, but in the long term, they want it clean. So, you're seeing them depend on fossil fuels today, but they want a longer-term strategy where they're obviously going with clean, reliable energy. That's nuclear power,” she said.

Asked whether cheaper fossil fuels could reduce nuclear demand, Korsnick replied: “Not at all. I think there's room for all of it. The energy demand is so large it needs to be an all of the above strategy, and part of that, all of the above strategy, is nuclear power.”