Turkey is working on plans to develop nuclear energy

He told reporters officials had reached the stage of preparing tender specifications and were looking at possible locations for a nuclear power station, including Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.

"Our preference is for the private sector to do this, but if necessary we will," Guler said, noting that tenders for a nuclear power station had been opened twice before but were unsuccessful.

The previous government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit put plans to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant on hold in July 2000 to wait for the country’s finances to stabilise.

Turkey’s treasury had refused to provide financing guarantees for the multi-billion dollar Akkuyu project, arguing that the country’s IMF accord at that time forbade such large guarantees.

Ankara currently has a $19 billion loan deal with the IMF which ends in February 2005.

The project had also faced environmentalist opposition focusing on concerns that the planned site lay too close to active earthquake fault lines and that it might deter tourists from visiting Turkey’s Mediterranean coastline.