Turkey signed a civil nuclear cooperation memorandum of understanding with the United States during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Thursday visit to the White House, the Anka news agency reported.
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced the agreement on X, saying it would open a “new phase” in bilateral relations and deepen cooperation in nuclear energy following Erdoğan’s talks with US President Donald Trump.
Cumhurbaşkanımız Sayın @RTErdogan ile Amerika Birleşik Devletleri Başkanı Sayın Donald Trump'ın Beyaz Saray’da gerçekleştirdiği görüşmeye katılım sağladık.
Türkiye ile Amerika Birleşik Devletleri arasındaki köklü ve çok boyutlu ortaklığı nükleer enerji alanında daha da… pic.twitter.com/ci7InzI4GZ
— Alparslan Bayraktar (@aBayraktar1) September 25, 2025
Details of the memorandum were not released. Turkish officials have previously said Ankara and Washington were discussing collaboration on both large-scale nuclear plants and small modular reactors (SMRs). In 2024 Yusuf Ceylan, a senior energy ministry official, told Reuters that Washington had shown strong interest in Turkey’s nuclear expansion plans.
Justin Friedman, a senior adviser at the US State Department, has recently said Turkey could eventually purchase as many as 35 SMRs, citing Ankara’s ambition of reaching 20 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050.
Turkey’s energy strategy
The agreement comes as Turkey seeks to diversify energy sources, cut dependence on imported natural gas and meet rising electricity demand.
Its first nuclear project, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, a $20-plus-billion project in southern Mersin province, is being built by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom. The four-reactor facility, with a total capacity of about 4,800 megawatts, is now expected to begin operating its first unit in 2026 after delays.
Turkey has also explored projects in Sinop on the Black Sea coast and in the Thrace region, holding talks with partners including Japan, South Korea, China and the United States. Beyond large-scale plants, Ankara is increasingly interested in SMRs, which generate about 100 megawatts each and are being developed by US companies such as NuScale Power and TerraPower.
Turkey currently operates about 69 coal-fired power plants, which supplied roughly one-third of its electricity in 2024, according to the energy ministry. The government has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2053.