Three ventures seem likely to tender on 30 June for the construction of the country's first nuclear power station at Akkuyu on the south Mediterranean coast, contracting sources say. The three ventures attended a recent pre-bid meeting to clarify tender documents with the client, state Turkish Electricity Generation & Transmission Corporation (TEAS), the sources add (MEED 28:2:97).

The three ventures of foreign companies with local partners are:

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

Canada's AECL Candu and Japan's Hitachi Corporation with Bayindir, Gama and Guris

Franco-German Nuclear Power International with the local Simko.

A fourth venture led by Italy's Ansaldo Energia, although invited by TEAS, did not attend the pre-bid meeting, the sources say. However, this will not exclude the venture from bidding, and there will be a further pre-bid meeting in May, senior TEAS officials say.

The estimated $1,500 million-2,000 million contract is expected to be awarded by end-1997 with construction to start in 1998. Commissioning of the first unit is targeted for December 2005 with the others to follow in 2006.

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