The Heavy-Water Hedge: Türkiye's Strategic Pivot to Canadian Nuclear Tech

MONTREAL, Nov. 12, 2026 – The global race to secure the next generation of nuclear energy has found its latest battleground at the intersection of Europe and Asia. AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., the Montreal-based engineering giant and steward of Canada’s CANDU nuclear technology, announced today that its subsidiary, Candu Energy Inc., has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Türkiye’s state-owned nuclear firm, TÜNAŞ.

Finalized at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, the agreement establishes a comprehensive framework to conduct a feasibility study and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for potential multi-unit CANDU reactor deployments in Türkiye. Targeted for completion before the end of 2027, the evaluation will assess site characteristics, environmental considerations, and local supply chain development to support future multi-billion-dollar investment decisions.

"This milestone reflects the federal government's ambitions to strengthen international partnerships and the global reach of Canadian nuclear expertise, with CANDU nuclear technology at the centre of that strategy," said Ian L. Edwards, President and Chief Executive Officer of AtkinsRéalis. "We are partnering with Türkiye to support its efforts to achieve its climate commitments and economic and energy security goals with low-carbon, baseload power, while expanding opportunities for Canada's nuclear sector."

Behind the corporate optimism lies a complex geopolitical chessboard. For Türkiye, this partnership is not merely about meeting rising electricity demand; it is a calculated sovereign maneuver to diversify its energy infrastructure, build domestic expertise, and hedge against an overwhelming reliance on Russian state technology.

Breaking the Rosatom Monopoly

To understand the significance of the AtkinsRéalis agreement, one must look at Türkiye’s current nuclear landscape. The nation is operating under a highly ambitious long-term roadmap to reach 20 gigawatts (GW) of installed nuclear capacity by 2050, a cornerstone of its strategy to hit Net Zero Emissions by 2053 and slash an annual energy import bill that routinely hovers around $70 billion.

Currently, the crown jewel of that effort is the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, a massive 4.8 GW facility being constructed on the Mediterranean coast by Russia's state-owned Rosatom. Akkuyu is being built under a unique Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model. While this insulated the Turkish public balance sheet from the initial $20 billion to $25 billion capital cost, it effectively created a Russian enclave on Turkish soil. Rosatom financed, designed, and built the plant, and will own and operate it for its entire 60-year lifespan, retaining at least a 51% equity stake.

For a NATO member state navigating an increasingly fractured global order, this level of long-term dependency on Moscow for critical baseload power and nuclear fuel is a strategic vulnerability.

Recognizing this bottleneck, Ankara established Türkiye Nükleer Enerji AŞ (TÜNAŞ) in 2022 to act as the founding and operating entity for future projects, signaling a decisive shift away from the foreign-owned BOO model. By pursuing new multi-unit megaprojects in Sinop on the Black Sea coast and in the Thrace region, Türkiye is actively courting Western and Asian alternatives.

"Countries are looking for reliable ways to strengthen energy security, resilience and meet rising electricity demand, and there is broad consensus that nuclear is an essential part of the solution," noted Joe St. Julian, President, Nuclear at AtkinsRéalis. "From Canada and the United States to Central Europe and the ASEAN region, governments are looking for proven technologies and experienced partners that can help turn nuclear ambitions into reality. Türkiye is an important part of that growth story for AtkinsRéalis."

The CANDU Advantage: Fuel Sovereignty and Supply Chains

Deconstructing the science behind the headlines reveals exactly why Canadian technology is an attractive prospect for Ankara. CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactors rely on pressurized heavy-water technology. Unlike the light-water reactors built by Russia, the United States, and France, CANDU reactors can be fueled by unenriched, natural uranium.

From a strategic standpoint, this is a game-changer for Türkiye. Uranium enrichment is a highly complex, expensive, and proliferation-sensitive process dominated by a handful of global players—most notably Russia. By utilizing natural uranium, Türkiye can bypass the international enrichment bottleneck entirely, achieving a degree of "fuel sovereignty" that light-water reactors simply cannot offer.

Furthermore, the heavy-water design allows for on-power refueling, meaning the reactor does not need to be shut down to replace spent fuel, contributing to some of the highest capacity factors in the global nuclear industry.

Beyond the physics, the heavy-water architecture aligns perfectly with Türkiye’s industrial ambitions. The Turkish government has mandated aggressive localization targets for its infrastructure projects, aiming for over 80% domestic supply chain participation in future nuclear builds.

"The modular nature of the CANDU design, combined with its reliance on components that do not require the ultra-heavy forging capabilities of massive light-water pressure vessels, makes it exceptionally well-suited for supply chain localization," explained an independent nuclear engineering analyst familiar with the negotiations. "If a country wants to build up its own high-tech manufacturing base rather than just importing a finished plant, heavy-water technology provides a much wider on-ramp for domestic industry."

A Litmus Test for Canada's Export Ambitions

While the MOA is a strategic win for Türkiye, it is an equally critical litmus test for Canada’s Nuclear Energy Strategy. Released earlier this year, the federal strategy explicitly identified international partnerships and export market diversification as key priorities for maintaining the commercial viability of CANDU technology.

AtkinsRéalis is the steward of a technology that currently powers 34 reactors across four continents. However, in recent years, the company's nuclear division has been heavily focused on highly successful, multi-billion-dollar refurbishment and life-extension projects for existing fleets in Ontario and Romania (Cernavodă). Securing a net-new build in a highly competitive emerging market like Türkiye would prove that Canadian nuclear technology remains a formidable export commodity in the 21st century.

The competition is fierce. South Korea’s KEPCO has been aggressively marketing its APR1400 reactors for the Sinop site, backed by deep pockets and recent memorandums of understanding on project financing with the Korea Export-Import Bank. China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) is also waiting in the wings for the Thrace project.

To compete, Canada will need to bring financial muscle to the table. Turkish energy officials have already indicated that advanced discussions regarding project financing have taken place with Canadian pension funds. It is highly likely that federal instruments, such as Export Development Canada (EDC), will need to play a vital role in underwriting the massive capital requirements should the feasibility study translate into a concrete construction contract.

Navigating Geopolitical and Seismic Realities

The road from an MOA to a poured concrete foundation is notoriously long in the nuclear sector. The comprehensive feasibility study and FEED evaluation, scheduled to run through 2027, will have to address severe technical realities.

Türkiye is located in one of the most seismically active zones on the planet. Any future nuclear site will require exhaustive geological vetting and bespoke engineering adaptations to meet the highest international safety standards. The CANDU design has a strong safety pedigree, but proving its resilience against extreme seismic events will be a central focus of the AtkinsRéalis engineering teams.

Additionally, the deployment of heavy-water technology carries specific non-proliferation considerations. While utilizing natural uranium avoids the enrichment cycle, heavy water can theoretically be used in processes related to plutonium production. Türkiye, a steadfast signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) with an Additional Protocol in force, will work closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure rigorous safeguards are integrated into the project's DNA from day one.

As the ink dries on the MOA in Antalya, the real work begins. If AtkinsRéalis and TÜNAŞ can successfully navigate the engineering, financial, and geopolitical hurdles over the next three years, they will do more than just build a power plant. They will redraw the energy map of the Eastern Mediterranean, proving that in the quest for a low-carbon future, strategic independence and technological innovation are inextricably linked.