Currently, Turkey has no operating commercial nuclear reactors. However, four VVER-1200 reactors at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, are currently under construction and expected to come online in 2023. The nuclear power debate has a long history, with the 2018 construction start in Mersin Province being the sixth major attempt to build a nuclear power plant since 1960. Nuclear power has been criticised as very expensive to taxpayers. Plans for Sinop Nuclear Power Plant and another at İğneada have stalled. The country is considering buying small modular reactors. History Early years Turkey's nuclear activities started soon after the first International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in September 1955. In 1961, a 1 MW test reactor at Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center was commissioned for educational and research purposes. As stated by the World Nuclear Association, the first endeavour was a feasibility report in 1970 involving a 300 MWe facility. Then in 1973, the electricity authority agreed to construct a demonstration plant of 80 MWe. In 1976, Akkuyu, a site 45 kilometers west of the southern city Silifke, was chosen as the nuclear power plant site. The Prime Ministry Atomic Energy Authority issued a license for this place. An effort to develop multiple plants failed in 1980 due to a failure of ensuring financial guarantees by the government, that viewed coal plants in Turkey as more favorable. Turkey suspended work on nuclear plants due to the Chernobyl disaster that occurred in the Soviet Union in 1986. In 1988, the TEK Nuclear Power Plants Department was closed. In 1993, a nuclear plant was included in the country's investment scheme. However, the revised bidding requirements were not issued until 1996. Bids were issued by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Westinghouse Electric Company-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries consortium and the Framatome-Siemens consortium for a 2000 MWe plant at Akkuyu. The final bid deadline was in 1997, but the government postponed its several times, until the preparations were scrapped due to financial difficulties. 2000s In May 2004, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Güler said "We will meet with the countries that produce these plants soon" and brought the issue of nuclear power plant back to the agenda. In his statement, Güler stated that the technical investigations on nuclear power plants are continuing and that negotiations will be held soon. Güler announced that the construction of the