A consortium led by Atomstroyexport, Russia's state nuclear giant, was the only bidder in the tender last year and the government -- unhappy with the financial terms -- is yet to decide whether to go ahead.

"If such a high price has emerged with just one company ... if we are unhappy with the price, it means there is a deficiency," Anatolia news agency quoted the minister, Taner Yildiz, as saying in the southern city of Antalya.

The project, estimated to cost about 21 billion dollars (14.9 billion euros), envisages the construction of four nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4,800-megawatts at Akkuyu, in the Mediterranean province of Mersin.

Yildiz, who was only appointed energy minister in May, said he would have chosen a different strategy to attract more bidders if he had held the portfolio at the time of the tender.

The consortium, which also includes Russia's Inter Rao and Turkey's Park Teknik, has already revised down its proposed price for the electricity the plant will produce but Ankara remains dissatisfied.

Yildiz said the company's offer stood at "some 15 cents" per kilowatt hour, down from the original 21.16 cents.

During a visit to Ankara earlier this month, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin argued the price was below international market levels as he signed a series of energy cooperation deals with Turkey.

Last week, Yildiz said the Turkish state could take as much as a 25 percent stake in the plant if the company lowers the price.

The suggestion however has raised questions on whether modifying the financial terms now will amount to unfair competition as other companies might have liked to submit bids under such conditions.

Yildiz insisted the tender's legal terms allowed for a partnership between the company and the Turkish state, adding that Ankara would decide the fate of the project in mid-September.

He signalled that even if the tender fails, Turkey would continue to pursue nuclear energy.

"We must definitely realise the nuclear plant but at reasonable prices," he said. "Our determination should not be affected ... We should put (the project) into an acceptable shape and continue on our way."

The tender was held in September, amid global financial market turbulence, with Ankara rejecting requests by interested companies for a postponement.

AECL of Canada, Vinci Construction Grand Projects of France, Itochu Corp. of Japan, China Nuclear Power Components and Germany's RWE were among the companies that had initially picked up bid specifications.

Ankara scrapped an earlier plan to build a nuclear plant at Akkuyu in 2000 amid a severe financial crisis and protests from environmentalists in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.

Critics say Akkuyu is close to a seismic faultline, pointing at a powerful earthquake that killed more than 140 people in the neighbouring province of Adana in 1998.

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