Turkish Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar stated that Baykar is working on a Small Modular Reactor (SMR), taking its first steps into nuclear energy.
Middle East Eye reported that the Turkish Ministry of Energy is making both investments and working on new regulations to give a push to nuclear power developments in Turkiye.
Speaking on the matter, Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that Baykar is working on a SMR prototype to produce 40 MW of power.
As a simple comparison, 40 MW is slightly above the output of the latest variants of the LM2500 gas turbine widely used for high volumes of power generation. However, the main advantage of a SMR, stands as the endurance, which easily spans years in a considerably smaller package compared to conventional reactors.
In the long-term plans, Turkiye plans to produce 10-15% of the total energy output from nuclear reactors, with 5000 MW to be produced by SMRs.
SMRs, thanks to their compactness and connectability, present many opportunities in both civilian and military industries. For the civilian part, cities or industrial zones can be powered consistently by a cluster, while single SMR units present opportunities for naval platforms.
SMRs, a Chance for the Next Stage in Turkiye’s Naval Development
A previous article from the Turkish Navy Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Dr Ahmet İşçi highlights the potential of SMRs for nuclear-powered submarine development. Operational advantages of nuclear propulsion over conventional propulsion include:
-No need for snorkelling, which exposes the submarine to radars
-Sustained high speed cruise
Thus, SMR studies and developments present an important step for the Turkish Navy, which recently disclosed its plans for a nuclear attack submarine (SSN) dubbed ‘NUKDEN’ to follow the AIP MILDEN submarines.
Additionally, SMRs can theoretically pave the way for a second-generation MUGEM with nuclear propulsion in the long term, which would be a significant jump from the current MUGEM, to uses four LM2500 gas turbines. A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier can truly operate as a mobile airbase with an endurance limited by onboard supplies. Additionally, the higher power generation allows the smooth use of catapults, which lifts the constraints on fuel or weapons load from combat aircraft placed by STOBAR operation.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
