Selçuk Bayraktar spoke at the TEKNOFEST Nuclear Energy Technologies Design Competition Final

Selçuk Bayraktar, Chairman of the TEKNOFEST Board of Directors and the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) Board of Trustees, said, "A large portion of the energy comes from the sun, which sustains us all. Nuclear reactions also occur there, which enable us to sustain our lives. That's why nuclear energy is so important. We are entering a period where the world's energy needs are significantly increasing."

Bayraktar, along with Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and many others attended the TEKNOFEST Nuclear Energy Technologies Design Competition Final program held at the TENMAK Istanbul Campus.

Bayraktar, in his speech here, said that the nuclear reactor is a simple machine among the heat engines.

Bayraktar stated that they produce the engines of their own planes and added:

We're building the Bayraktar TB2 engine ourselves. TUSAŞ Engine Industries Inc. (TEI) is building the TB3 engine as a diesel engine. It's a very advanced engine. We also manufacture fighter jet engines for Bayraktar Akıncı and Bayraktar Kızılelma. Robotics technology, especially its engines, has relatively low added value. It's like the vibration motor in a cell phone, but when you're dependent on it and an embargo is imposed, you can't even produce the aircraft. From a global perspective, nuclear technology is outdated.

Bayraktar said, "A large portion of the energy comes from the sun, which sustains us all. It is the nuclear reactions that take place there that enable us to sustain our lives."

This is why nuclear power is so important. We're entering a period where the world's energy needs are significantly increasing. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more and more integrated into our lives and performs more tasks, it's also begun to speak. Even if it's more like a parrot, it's begun to do many of our jobs, and we're using it to make our lives easier. We're using it increasingly. The most critical element, however, comes back to energy, and on the other hand, the challenges imposed by the climate crisis…

Bayraktar stated that they see the criticality of nuclear energy, along with all the other technologies developed around the world, and that it stands at the most optimum point compared to other renewable energy options in terms of producing indispensable clean energy.

Bayraktar stated that the cleanest energy is solar energy, the energy coming from solar panels, but when you look at it from one perspective, you see that even the installation of all those solar panels consumes more carbon than nuclear energy, and continued:

Turkey isn't in the position it deserves in this area. We are truly at a very important center. We are where Türkiye's first experimental nuclear reactor was located, where the initial studies have begun. We are pursuing a vehicle we absolutely must reach, a vehicle we can call our Red Apple. The question arises as to how Turkey will achieve nuclear energy capacity, national nuclear energy capacity, and how it will develop this technology on its own. When you seek the answer to the question of what the nuclear technology we develop and develop, what independent technology it will be, and when you begin to ponder what the roadmap for this should be, I see that the most crucial factor lies in training thousands of engineers.

"Türkiye has now begun to show its presence in every field of the defense industry."

"Looking back 20 years ago, there were approximately 20,000 people in the Turkish defense ecosystem. Turkey was a country heavily dependent on foreign countries for 85% of its defense industry," Bayraktar said, highlighting the following:

With the nationalization vision implemented over the past 20 years, employment in the defense industry has reached approximately 100,000 to 200,000, and Turkey has begun to establish a presence in every area of ​​the defense industry. It's also very ambitious in some areas, such as armed UAVs. It holds 65 percent of the world's largest armed UAV export market. It can also produce air defense systems. And now, it's starting to move toward rapid production. Just like in nuclear reactions, when you exceed a certain energy threshold, you become capable of doing anything on your own.

Bayraktar emphasized that TEKNOFEST stepped in to achieve exactly this, stating that Turkish industry has the capacity to build a nuclear reactor, especially a small one.

Bayraktar said, "The champions will receive their awards from our President and ministers in the presence of our nation on September 17-21. The magical spirit of TEKNOFEST, its vibrant atmosphere, especially on a subject like nuclear energy technologies, which on the one hand frightens people and seems so distant, has thrilled me."

AA