The Government and private companies in Turkey are in talks with the US regarding the purchase of small modular reactors (SMRs), as Turkey wants to abandon the use of coal for electricity production, Bloomberg reports.

“There is serious interest in nuclear energy as a way to replace thermal power plants,” said Justin Friedman, senior advisor to the State Department, in an interview for Bloomberg, according to Agerpres.

According to Justin Friedman, there is a possibility of purchasing up to 35 Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), given that Turkey wants to reach nuclear power production capacities of up to 20 Gigawatts in 2050.

“Now the question is how do we work together at the government level to pave the way for cooperation at the corporate level,” said Justin Friedman.

The list of US small modular reactor (SMR) manufacturers includes companies such as NuScale Power Corp. and TerraPower LLC. This type of reactor generates hundreds of megawatts of electricity and can be built in series, in a manner similar to components being assembled in a factory, unlike traditional nuclear power plants which are built to order.

The investment in 35 small modular reactors (SMRs) would amount to several billion dollars and it is currently unclear how the financing will be arranged, if the talks end with a commercial agreement.

The talks with the US come at a time when the Russian company Rosatom is nearing completion of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey. Also, the Ankara Government is negotiating a second nuclear power plant, also with Rosatom, which would be built on the Black Sea coast.