April 28, 2023
12:27
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Türkiye Joins Nuclear Power Club After Inaugurating Its First Plant
The war in Ukraine made a fragile global energy market even worse. Over the past year, Western countries saw prices skyrocket after Russian energy companies were hit with sanctions. The shortage renewed the push for alternate sources, even the nuclear option. But as many countries in Europe shut their nuclear plants down, Turkiye went in the other direction, by delivering the first batch of fuel to its first nuclear power plant.
Akkuyu will also change Turkiye's economy and energy sectors, that's according to IAEA Chief Mariano Grossi who attended the opening ceremony. Russia's state atomic energy company Rosatom is building the Akkuyu nuclear plant. Located in Mersin off Turkiye's southern coast, the 20 billion dollar plant is set to generate 35 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, about 10% of Turkiye's total needs. Many countries phased out nuclear power following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, including Germany which shut down its last atomic reactors earlier this month. But as the global energy crisis continues, could nuclear power be the viable alternative?
Guests:
Jonathan Cobb
World Nuclear Association Spokesperson
Ivan Starodubtsev
Political Analyst
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