The recent 4th International Nuclear Power Plants Summit in Istanbul gathered local and foreign manufacturers, supported by the Nuclear Engineers Association, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Nuclear Industry Association.
According to Dr. Şule Ergün, instructor of Hacettepe University, Nuclear Energy Engineering Department and chief of International Nuclear Power Plants Assoc., the nuclear power plant projects in Turkey create business opportunities for many sectors operating in construction, manufacturing, electrical-electronic and machinery industries, and in the meantime the capacity that will be generated for these sectors will also add high values on energy, space , defense, automotive, maritime and aerospace industries.
It was however strange not to see any major official from the Ministry of Energy, except third rank civil servants who do not have any impact on the business.
In addition, the Chinese delegation led by State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) introduced the best groups from its supply chain (Shanghai Electric, Dongfang Electric, China First Heavy Industry….) and its interest to export their business in Turkey, but no sign of localization or commercial cooperation with the Turkish industry. SPIC came without Westinghouse, which was certainly glued in Pennsylvania with its bankruptcy.
Finally, Rosatom and the Russian delegation changed their former communication model from “check our website and we will call you back” to “here is the person in charge of local procurement”. A great effort of communication was done between several subsidiaries and supporting units of Rosatom and the local industry during the summit, which indicated the need for the Russian to attract Turkish investment in the project.
