Turkish gov't plans to amend nuclear power plant tender law

A consortium led by Russian state firm Atomstroyexport, together with Inter RAO and Turkish Park Teknik, was the only bid in a tender to build and operate the country's first nuclear power plant in Mersin on the Mediterranean coast.

The tender held in September was disappointing given the fact that a number of foreign and local companies had previously expressed interest but did not submit bids.

Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants with a capacity of 4,000 megawatts, plus or minus 25 percent, as part of efforts to reduce a costly dependence on energy imports.

Turkey is still considering the bid submitted by the Russian-Turkish group, the Energy Ministry source told Reuters.

The Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) has recently asked the Atomstroyexport-Inter Rao-Park Teknik joint venture to clear some technical issues. According to TAEK's criteria, nuclear power plants must meet updated and approved technological innovations and be compatible with international institutions criteria, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

'There have to be some changes in the nuclear tender law for the second tender. The changes will also be valid for the Mersin tender if that tender is cancelled,' the Energy Ministry source said.

Many companies had requested changes to the law before the tender. Analysts say it doesn't provide enough guarantees to investors.

Analysts expected Turkey to cancel the tender after it received only one bid from an initial thirteen companies that had initially bought tender documents for the plant.

Among the companies which had previously expressed interest in the tender were Sabanci, General Electric, Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Spanish utility Iberdrola SA.