The Turkish Nuclear Energy Administration

Speaking about nuclear energy industry, it is important to refer to its inalienable and one of the most important components which are the state structures that develop and implement energy policy within the country.

The main executive authorities of Turkey solve a wide range of issues related to the implementation of nuclear policy. At the same time, a system of specialized bodies exists and performs state administration functions in the given area.

The main bodies which carry out nuclear energy-related bureaucratic activities are the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority and the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (Figure 3).

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources prepares and implements Turkey’s energy policies, coordinates nuclear energy-related activities and cooperates with other related institutions and entities. The promotion of nuclear energy policies is one of the top priorities for the ENRM, which, according to the Ministry, is not a choice for Turkey but the only way out of the energy crisis.

The Energy Market Regulatory Authority was established in 2001, to control and regulate Turkish energy market as an independent body. The EMRA as such, has no influence on the decision-making and policy planning procedures in the field. It is responsible for the review of applications in the energy sector, and for giving licenses⁷².

Together with TAEA, the EMRA publish various legislative documents in regard to nuclear safety, nuclear power plants and reactors operation, nuclear technologies and licensing.

Established in 1956, the Turkish Atomic Energy Commission has played a central role for many years and remains important for the implementation of Turkish nuclear energy program.

In 1982 it was renamed as Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, whose activities would be regulated by the law No. 2690. According to it, the TAEA sets out the basic parameters of the state’s policy for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, carries out research activities in the sphere and founds research and training centers, submits proposal to the President related to nuclear energy policies, establishes relations with the national institutions and bodies concerned with the atomic energy, conducts outreach and educational activities⁷³ etc.

Prior to the establishment of Turkish Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the TAEA had the primary responsibility for nuclear policy implementation. According to the Nuclear Power Plants

72 Udum Ş. P. 140

73 Law on Turkish Atomic Energy Authority. 1982. URL:

http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/tur130316e.pdf (accessed: 05.12.2019)

34 Law No. 5710 the TAEA had to control nuclear energy and ionizing radiation facilities, issue licenses until the establishment of a separate regulatory body: “TAEA shall carry out its duty in accordance with the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority Act No. 2690 of 9 July 1982 until a new institution which will execute the duty of regulating and inspection of nuclear activities is founded”⁷⁴.

This long-awaited nuclear regulatory institution was founded on 2018 by the Decree No.

702, it is an independent regulatory body and is considered as an important step toward nuclear energy policy implementation.

Thus, the main responsibilities of NRA are the followings:

 Control over nuclear energy facilities

 Control over ionizing radiation facilities

 Grant/revoke Licenses and Permits to companies exploiting the abovementioned category facilities

 Regulate the activities of industry-related companies, suppliers, sub- suppliers, contractors, sub-contractors

 Carry out research and development activities in the field of safety and security⁷⁵

Although the creation of NRA, the importance of the TEAE has not diminished, it has simply handed over a part of its responsibilities concerning, in particularly, to nuclear safety and security to the new-created authority.

The aim of this chapter was to provide an understanding about the principal drivers for Turkey’s nuclear energy quest, to show the genesis of its development and to present the main instruments, namely, the legal framework and administrative organizations, which are responsible for the implementation of that program. All the knowledge provided by the chapter indirectly contribute to the hypothesis, that Turkey is, in fact, committed member of the NPT regime.

The nuclear non-proliferation regime, through the Article IV of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, opened the option of the development of nuclear energy for peaceful

74 Unofficial Translation of the Turkish Law No. 5710 Concerning the Construction and Operation of Nuclear Power Plants and the Sale of Energy Generated from Those Plants. 2007. URL:

http://www.lawsturkey.com/law/law-concerning-the-construction-and-operation-of-nuclear-power-plants- and-the-sale-of-energy-generated-from-those-plants-5710 (accessed: 05.12.2019)

75 Nukleer Duzenleme Kurumunun Teşkilat ve Gorevleri ile Bazı Kanunlarda Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun Hukmunde Kararname (Decree-Law on the Amendments to the Organization and Duties of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority). 2018. URL: https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/MevzuatMetin/4.5.702.pdf (accessed: 05.12.2019)

35 purposes. Turkey became interested in the potential use of nuclear energy at the early stages of the development of nuclear energy sector in the world. Although the multi-dimensional profile of the use of peaceful atom, Turkey’s primary driving force for its interests in nuclear energy was the achievement of energy stability in the country, which was generally conditioned by the overcoming two obstacles: first, the growing energy demand, as a result of rapidly growing population and progressing economic capabilities, and second, energy dependency from the imports of natural minerals, mainly from oil and gas.

Turkey’s current nuclear energy policy is designed to solve the following tasks:

 ease energy supply dependency,

 diversify traditional energy sources,

 increase energy generation,

 make energy transmission and consumption more effective

Nevertheless, although less discussed in international relation, nuclear energy as an inseparable part of the global energy system, provides for states, including Turkey, opportunities, that we named non-material opportunities in the respective subchapter. The author divided that non-material opportunity into three main dimensions:

 promotion of cooperation

 balance of capabilities

 soft power projection

By analyzing the abovementioned concepts, we came into the understanding that, albeit, these concepts cannot be considered as primary drivers for Turkey’s pursuit of nuclear energy, they play a supporting role and can be considered as a desired outcome for Turkey’s nuclear energy program, as nuclear energy pursuit resulted in a development of strategic bilateral cooperation between Turkey and some states. Besides that, the diversification of energy sources and removal of energy dependency via nuclear energy sector would make Turkey’s economic and political profile more strong by balancing Turkey’s position in particularly in the regional context, and to change its role from energy importer to energy exporter, by projecting its soft power capabilities far beyond its borders.

So, we can state, that, in fact, the successful peaceful nuclear energy policy provides to a state four interconnected and sequential opportunities to solve internal energy and economic problems, to promote international ties, to balance the relations with other states and to project its power over the other countries. These potentials attract many countries to choose the path of peaceful nuclear energy policy, and Turkey is not an exclusion.

36 In conclusion, we can state that Turkey seeks to meet its growing energy demand and minimize the dependency from energy imports by establishing a nuclear energy sector in the country. The non-materialistic aspect of the issue, especially related with such concepts as

“national identity” and “regional leadership”, also has some importance for Turkish nuclear energy policy, however, it currently plays a secondary role.

Turkey started its pursuit for peaceful nuclear energy since the mid–1950s and, although, the origins of Turkey’s policy in nuclear energy are going deep the times when the first nuclear powers were making their initial steps towards the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Turkey has no any nuclear power plant designed for energy power production until now. The nuclear reactors, currently operating in the country, are built exclusively for research and educational purposes.

The problems, Turkey faced in its path toward peaceful nuclear capabilities, from the very beginning of its attempts to build NPPs, can be divided into geographical, economic, foreign and domestic political and legal reasons.

Firstly, the entire territory of Turkey, which is covered by seismic hazardous zones, give a little choice for the construction of the future nuclear power plant. The geographical conditions were also influence on the investment environment, as the investors simply did not want to take risk by financing NPP projects in Turkey․

As for economic reasons, during the Cold War era many states faced economic stagnation in general, including Turkey. The poorly developed economy couldn’t cope with economic difficulties such as the frequent inflation of national currency, poverty and unemployment. The most serious crisis occurs in 1970s, during the so called “Oil crisis” when the Turkish government failed to take necessary measures to control to the effects of the big increase in world’s oil prices.

Thus, the lack of sufficient domestic economic resources made Turkey dependent on foreign investments, which in its turn was insufficient as the whole world was economically unstable.

Probably the most important factor conditioning the failure of Turkey’s NPP projects, was the international mistrust among Turkey’s allies toward its nuclear energy program. In particular, the cooperation with nuclear aspirant states, such as Argentina and Pakistan were, provoked accusations and concerns about Turkey’s nuclear aspirations. As a consequence, the doors of foreign financing and cooperation were closed for Turkey for quit a long time.

There was also a rigid internal political struggle in the country, which was also caused by the difficult economic situation. Only during 1970s, Turkey changed 11 prime ministers. 1960, 1971, 1980 military interventions in Turkey and other anti-governmental protests have created a chain of instability in Turkey, that the country has been unable to combine with its nuclear energy program. One of the internal causes also were the powerful environmental and anti-nuclear

37 movements in Turkey, which, especially, became sharper after the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear power plants’ accidents.

The research maintains, that the absence of comprehensive and realized nuclear energy regulatory framework in Turkey could be seen as institutional challenge in the path of achieving the desired end-state, that is, the establishment of well-organized and effective nuclear energy sector, as the institutional weakness provoked many risks during the evolution of Turkey’s nuclear energy strategy, especially, with regard to involvement of foreign investments and foreign assistant, which were frequently avoiding to invest in Turkey’s NPP projects, because of the lack of necessary guaranties by the side of the state.

The chapter concludes, that the lack of an appropriate regulatory system, together with international mistrust toward Turkey’s nuclear energy program were the most crucial obstacles for the realization of Turkey’s nuclear energy projects.

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