Turkey in nuclear plant talks with Candu, energy minister says

Turkey is in talks with Canada's Candu Energy and other companies regarding plans to build its second and third nuclear power plants, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to southeast Turkey on Monday, Bayraktar said Turkey wants to "put a name" to the projects for its additional planned plants this year.

"Russia, South Korea and China are interested in the second and third power plant. But in addition to these, there are also other countries and companies we are negotiating with," he said.

"One of them is Canada, for example. The Candu company," he added.

Candu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear energy company, is building Turkey's first nuclear power station at Akkuyu in the Mediterranean province of Mersin under a $20 billion accord from 2010.

Turkey plans to build a second nuclear plant in the Black Sea region of Sinop and a third nuclear plant in the northwestern region of Thrace.