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Beyond the Conventional: Why SMRs Are a More Sustainable Choice than Conventional Nuclear Power Reactors?
The second quarter of 2026 delivered what many in the global energy community had long anticipated but few expected to see this soon: the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the first-ever construction permit for a non-light-water commercial reactor, and ground was broken at Kemmerer, Wyoming. Weeks later, X-energy completed the largest nuclear sector IPO on record. Generation IV small modular reactors are no longer a concept confined to research papers. They are under construction.
This issue of ESG Quarterly examines what that milestone means — not only for the global energy transition, but specifically for Türkiye. The contributors assembled here approach the question from distinct vantage points: technology, strategy, law, finance, and public acceptance. Yet a single thread runs through every analysis: the window for positioning is open, and it will not remain so indefinitely.
A Structural Break, Not an Incremental Improvement & Türkiye’s Position
Türkiye enters this moment with a substantial project pipeline. Its 20 GW nuclear target by 2053, with 5 GW reserved for SMRs, reflects serious policy intent. The companies that built capability around the Akkuyu project are accumulating nuclear-grade supply chain experience. Beyond the conventional nuclear law, the Ministry of Energy is moving toward an SMR regulatory framework. This indicates Türkiye is responsive to the developments.
The Social License Cannot Be an Afterthought
Public legitimacy is not a secondary variable — it is a structural requirement. Many countries learned this at considerable cost. Türkiye possesses two genuine social assets: a younger generation increasingly shaped by climate concern, and a broader techno-nationalist current for which strategic autonomy and indigenous industrial capability are defining values. An SMR program that speaks credibly to both — through early community engagement, transparent siting processes, and an honest waste management framework — stands a realistic chance of building durable public support. One that does not risk repeating the patterns of large infrastructure projects that arrived as faits accompli.
What This Issue Argues
The analyses collected here do not argue for unconditional optimism. What they do argue is that the transition is underway and there is already in place an enabling legal environment, and previously tested legal structuring models, albeit more specific legislation and regulations are currently in the making that the capital markets have drawn their own conclusions, and that the most consequential decisions are no longer about whether to engage with Generation IV — but when, on what terms, and with what degree of sovereign capability. For Türkiye, those decisions are available today. The relevant question is whether they will be taken.