Turkey, South Korea fail to sign nuclear agreement

“We could not reach an agreement this time because of differences in issues including electricity sales price,” South Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Saturday in an e-mailed statement.

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp., or KEPCO, and a Turkish builder agreed in March to bid jointly for the contract to build the plant. Negotiations with the Turkish government have been hit by disagreement over shareholding in the project, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said on Nov. 8.

The countries will resume talks as soon as possible after Turkey reviews South Korea’s proposal, the ministry said, without giving details of the proposal. Sabah newspaper said on Sunday that Turkey has invited Japan’s Toshiba Plant Systems & Services to hold talks on building the nuclear power plant. A first round of talks will be held this week with Toshiba, Minister Yıldız said, according to the newspaper.

In May, Russia signed a $20 billion contract to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant consisting of four reactors, following more than a year of negotiations. South Korea emerged as a competitor in the global nuclear market after KEPCO beat General Electric and Areva in December last year to an $18.6 billion order to supply reactors to the United Arab Emirates. South Korea aims to secure $400 billion of contracts by 2030 as demand for nuclear plants increases.

KEPCO has said it is seeking to build reactors in India and Malaysia, and considers South Africa, Thailand, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as potential markets. Demand for nuclear power, the source of 15 percent of the world’s electricity, has rebounded as nations seek to cut use of more-polluting energy sources including coal and oil.

The global count of reactors may double by 2030, driven by demand in India and China, according to the World Nuclear Association. About 435 plants are planned or proposed by 2030, data from the London-based group show. South Korea operates 20 domestic nuclear plants totaling the world’s sixth-largest capacity, and plans to complete 18 additional reactors by 2030.


/Hurriyet Daily News/