Four groups have emerged as contenders in the bidding for the construction of the country's first nuclear power complex at Akkuyu, on the southern Mediterranean coast. The four have been invited by the client - the state Turkish Electricity Generation & Transmission Corporation (TEAS) - to a briefing on 10 March as part of the tender process.

The four ventures between foreign and local companies are:

the US' Westinghouse Electric Corporation and Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation with Enka

Canada's Atomic Engergy of Canada (AECL) and Japan's Hitachi Corporation with Bayindir, Gama and Guris

Franco-German Nuclear Power International

Italy's Ansaldo Energia with either the US' General Electric Company or Japan's Toshiba Corporation

The four were invited to the briefing by TEAS to define common specifications more clearly following the invitation on 17 December of turnkey construction tenders (MEED 3:1:97). Another briefing will be held in May.

A contract for a complex costing between $1,500 million-2,000 million is expected to be awarded by the end of 1997 for a construction start in 1998. Commissioning of the first unit is planned for December 2005, with the others following in 2006.

Two options have been provided in the tender specifications, each for configurations of units of a minimum 600 MW in size. The first and main option is for a total capacity of 800-1,400 MW, and the second is for a capacity of up to 2,800 MW. Bidders can choose between three reactor cooling systems: the pressurised water reactor (PWR); the boiling water reactor (BWR); and the pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR)