Turkish firm plans up to 20 SMRs with US partner

Turkish conglomerate IC Holding is working toward deploying up to 20 small modular reactors (SMRs) in Türkiye and the wider region under a strategic partnership with US-based ARC Clean Technology, IC Nuclear Technology Chair Murad Bayar said at the 12th Nuclear Power Plants Summit in Istanbul. The company's long-term plans include up to 10 reactors in Türkiye, with a wider regional total that could reach 20, according to Bayar.

Technology and industrial goals

IC Nuclear Technology is working with ARC Clean Technology on sodium-cooled 4th-generation reactor technology. The ARC-100 is a 100-megawatt-electric-class advanced SMR design based on sodium-cooled fast reactor technology. Bayar said the technology could support not only electricity generation but also industrial applications requiring high-temperature process heat. "Our goal is to establish an engineering and industrial ecosystem around reactor technology in Türkiye," Bayar said.

Cost and applications

Türkiye aims to reach 20 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2050, including 5,000 megawatts from SMRs. Bayar noted that later SMR applications could approach around $3,000 per kilowatt, implying a cost of about $300 million for a 100-megawatt-class reactor, though final costs would depend on technology maturity, licensing, and project model. Potential application areas include data centers, energy-intensive industry, organised industrial zones, petrochemical facilities, mining sites, desalination, and regions with limited grid capacity. The partnership builds on Türkiye's growing nuclear energy ambitions, which already include the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant being built by Russia's Rosatom.