The gains and risks of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in the Context of Türkiye's energy security

Türkiye is rapidly increasing its energy consumption in parallel with its developing economy, growing population and urbanization rate. Accordingly, Türkiye, whose energy dependence is increasing, is pursuing a policy of diversification of energy resources and domestic production in order to reduce its dependence on imported energy resources. One of the most prominent energy investments in line with this policy is the realization of Türkiye's first nuclear power plant. The first reactor of the Mersin-Akkuyu NPP, which will consist of four reactors with a total capacity of 4800 MW, is expected to become operational in 2025. The Akkuyu NPP, built in cooperation with the Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, is the largest energy cooperation with Russia after oil, coal and natural gas energy imports. This has led to criticism that Türkiye's energy dependence on Russia could increase. This study examines the energy security rationale for the construction of the Akkuyu NPP. In addition, this study discusses in detail whether the nuclear power plant poses risks in terms of environmental safety and what benefits it can provide in terms of socio-economic aspects. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to show how the Akkuyu NPP is realized from an engineering perspective and what innovations it brings to the sector, while explaining how nuclear energy will contribute to Türkiye's energy security within the discipline of International Relations. To this end, the conceptual framework of energy security is analyzed from the perspectives of neorealism, neoliberalism, and green theory. In addition, interviews with experts in the field of energy were used to add depth to the study. The aim of this study is to determine the extent to which the Akkuyu NPP, built in cooperation with Russia, can contribute to Türkiye's energy security and whether increasing energy dependence on Russia will pose an additional risk to Türkiye's energy security. While the study concludes that the Akkuyu NPP will provide clean and higher capacity electricity generation at reasonable prices in the long run, and will develop trained manpower and construction equipment in the nuclear sector in our country in terms of engineering technology, it also finds that it carries political risks in terms of energy security and interdependence, as it will further increase energy dependence on Russia.