Chairman of Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) Okay Cakiroglu said on Thursday that the first nuclear power plant of Turkey will be built by 2015.

Speaking at a meeting of the parliamentary commission members on global warming, Cakiroglu said that nuclear plants are necessary for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to atmosphere.

"We will build our first nuclear plant by 2015. We have the necessary know-how for this" said TAEK chairman.

On Tuesday, Turkish parliament adopted a law setting a legal framework for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plants, the Anatolia news agency reported.

According to the report, the Turkish legislation authorizes the energy ministry to run and finalize the tender for the construction of the plants and also to decide on their capacity and location.

The government plans to build three nuclear power plants with a total capacity of about 5,000 mega watts to become operational in 2015 in a bid to prevent a possible energy shortage and reduce dependence on foreign energy supplies, the report added.

Source: Xinhua