Turkey's nuclear energy policies and Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant

The dependence on the energy and its use has increased in every country due to the increasing population and advanced technology. As a result of it, the reserves of fossil fuel have decreased, several energy crises have occurred from time to time and the alternative energy sources have been on the focus. One of these alternative energy sources is nuclear energy. The nuclear power plants, which were built in order to get nuclear energy, have attracted the attention thanks to some disadvantages such as its high cost and emission of radiation while they do not radiate harmful gases towards environment. The nuclear power plants that have already been and are planned to be constructed by a number of countries have become problematic because of the power plant accidents. On one hand some countries have abandoned the nuclear power plants owing to the accidents mentioned above, on the other hand some other countries have continued to operate the nuclear power plants by claiming the necessity to meet the increasing demand on energy. The energy demand of Turkey has substantively increased year by year together with its developing economy and increasing population. Turkey, which does not have rich reserves as to renewable energy sources, has not made use of the renewable energy sources sufficiently on account of the economic reasons and the energy has become dependent on outside sources. Especially the dependency on natural gas and Russia in respect of natural gas has made Turkey seek for alternative energy sources. Among these sources, nuclear energy has taken a place on the energy policies of Turkey for a long time since not only it is of great efficiency in electric energy but also it is the door opened towards the nuclear technology. The attempt to build nuclear power plant, which was on agenda in 1960 for the first time, has sometimes lost its popularity on the agendas while it has been included in a number of development plans and government programs. Ultimately the works have been started for building the nuclear power plant in Akkuyu in Mersin by means of the agreement concluded with Russia. The nuclear power plant in Akkuyu in Mersin, whose construction was planned to begin in December 2013, is the first nuclear power plant in Turkey as well as it is of first rank throughout the world due to its characteristics. Key words: 1. Energy, 2. Nuclear energy, 3. Nuclear energy policies, 4. Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Power