French nuclear firm EDF and Russia's Rosatom are in discussions to work more closely, a French publication has reported, potentially including co-ownership of Turkey's first commercial nuclear plant.
Les Echos recently quoted Rosatom Deputy General Director Nikolai Spassky as saying the French government's current emphasis on keeping corporate investments within France will not last, and that Rosatom has offered to work with EDF on nuclear projects in Kaliningrad, Russia, and Turkey. Rosatom is financing the $20 billion, 4,800 megawatt Akkuyu project and owns 100 percent of its equity.
In an interview with Bloomberg, a Rosatom spokesman confirmed that the company is interested in selling as much as 49 percent of its stake in the plant. He added that the company will also consider working with frequent EDF partner Areva and other suppliers on a tender basis.
An Areva-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries consortium was recently chosen to build Turkey's second nuclear plant at Sinop, which GDF Suez will operate.