Nuclear Energy Crucial To Turkiye's National Security -- Min.

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) ISTANBUL, Sept 6 (KUNA) -- Turkish Minister of Economy Alparslan Bayraktar said that nuclear energy was an integral part of the national security of his country.
Turkiye sees growing demand for energy given the growth of needs for AI at a time when nearly 600 million people around the world have no access to electricity, he said in a speech to the Nuclear Energy Technologies Design Competition in Istanbul on Saturday.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources ahead of the Teknofest Aerospace and Technology Festival, due to open on September 17.
Turkiye's electricity demand has tripled in the past two decades and will continue growing at an annual rate of 3.5 percent to nearly 945 terawatt/hour by 2035, he said.
Turkiye's annual energy imports cost nearly USD 70 billion to USD 90 billion, which constitutes "a big dilemma for our economy," the minister pointed out.
Bayraktar highlighted the importance of reducing reliance on foreign energy sources and securing economic independence, which is "an inseparable part of our national security."
He also stressed the need of stemming the carbon dioxide emissions - a primary driver of global climate change, and tripling the production of nuclear energy by 2050 in keeping with the COP28 declaration adopted in Dubai in December 2023.
Under the declaration 22 countries and more than 120 companies pledged to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050 to support the goal of reaching net-zero emissions, Bayraktar recalled. (end)
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