At a stormy session that began Thursday afternoon and continued overnight, legislators amended several technical provisions in the original draft, which former president Ahmet Necdet Sezer had vetoed in May.

The legislation authorises the energy ministry to run and finalise tenders for the construction of nuclear power plants and decide on their capacity and location.

It provides for public institutions to build the plants if there is no interest from the private sector.

To take effect, the bill now needs the approval of President Abdullah Gul, who took office in August.

Turkey has said it plans to build three nuclear plants with a total capacity of about 5,000 megawatts to become operational in 2012 in a bid to prevent a possible energy shortage and reduce dependence on foreign energy supplies.

But the plan and the possible location of one of the reactors -- Sinop, a Black Sea coast city 435 kilometers (270 miles) northeast of Ankara -- triggered protests from residents and environmentalists.

Turkey abandoned earlier plans to build a nuclear plant in July 2000 amid financial difficulties and protests from environmentalists in Turkey and neighbouring Greece and Cyprus.

Opponents argued that the proposed site -- Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast -- was only 25 kilometres (15 miles) from a seismic fault line.

earlier related report
Abania considers nuclear power to beat energy shortage: PM
Albania may turn nuclear to overcome energy shortages and try to enlist its Balkans neighbours in the project, Prime Minister Sali Berisha said Friday.

Albanian officials had already contacted expert companies for their advices "in order to begin such projects," Berisha told reporters in the capital Tirana.

"Our main goal is to make Albania an energy superpower in the region," he added.

He had called on legal experts to "prepare a legal framework" for the switch to nuclear power, he said.

"I am convinced that the nuclear energy is the most stable and the cleanest sort of energy."

Albania would call on governments from neighbouring countries, including Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo for their support.

Since summer, Albania has been struggling with a serious energy crisis due to months of drought that have hit the country's hydroelectric power plants.

The authorities have had to ration electricity to an average four hours per day, introduce power cuts for consumers and state institutions and order many companies to work at night, when power consumption is lower.

While Albania needs some 18 million kilowatts daily, the country can only produce only 5.5 million. It imports a mere 6.5 million.

Dilapidated hydroelectric power stations in Albania were mostly constructed during the post-World War II communist era and are the country's only electricity plants.

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