Turkey Reactor main pageTURKEY'S NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM

LATEST: 25th July 2000 TURKEY LEAVES INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR LOBBY IN THE DARK - Akkuyu Bay Nuclear Reactor cancelled!

GREENPEACE'S CAMPAIGN TO HALT TURKEY'S NUCLEAR POWER PROGRAM

1998

As of mid-November, the Turkish Government had still not announced which consortium had won the bid to build Turkey's first nuclear reactor. The bid winner was meant to be announced in March - 8 months ago!

On the 16th October, the Turkish newspaper Radikal quoted the head of the Turkish electricity utility TEAS as saying that the bid would be delayed for another one to one and a half months. This followed previous reports that it would be announced in October. It seems reasonably certain is that it won't happen this year.

The election of the new SPD/Green Government in Germany is a serious problem for the Nuclear Power International (NPI) Consortium. The new Government has begun to negotiate the details of a nuclear phase-out in Germany, and will likely not be as supportive of nuclear exports as the previous administration. This is sure to affect NPI's bid. As one German industry official said "Why should Turkey announce it will order a reactor from a country which says it is going to be phasing out nuclear energy?"

The constant delays and unfavourable political developments suggest that Turkey's nuclear program is in trouble. Each delay further reduces the chances that it will go ahead.

But please continue to help us defeat Turkey's nuclear program. Go to the "what you can do" page and find out how you can help.

The Turkish Government has announced plans to build 10 nuclear reactors by 2020. The first reactor is planned to be built at Akkuyu Bay on the southeast Mediterranean coast, and is scheduled to start operation in 2005. The contract for the building of this reactor is expected to be awarded in the second half of 1998.

Three international consortia are bidding for the contract. They are led by Atomic Energy of Canada, Limited; Westinghouse of the United States; and Nuclear Power International, a consortium led by Siemens of Germany and Framatome of of France. All of the consortia must involve Turkish firms in the bid, and all are required to provide 100% of the financing for the project [click here for more information].

The nuclear industry in decline

Turkey's nuclear program makes it a key country for the survival of the nuclear power industry. In Western Europe and North America no new reactors are being ordered, while the recent currency crises have stalled or slowed nuclear construction plans in South and South-East Asia. If Turkey's plans are realised, it will be one of the few countries in the world which is building new reactors, and the only non-nuclear country actively developing a nuclear power program. It will provide a lifeline for western reactor vendors, and the industry as a whole.

When Turkey first considered nuclear power in 1965 the many problems that have plagued the industry were not so apparent. Now, three decades later, there can be no doubt that nuclear power is a dangerous and expensive technology that has had a dreadful impact on human health and the environment on a global scale. Greenpeace is urging Turkey to learn from the terrible lessons of the past 50 years and not go down the nuclear road.

Nuclear power is unsafe

Perhaps the most serious concern with nuclear power is the potential for catastrophic accidents. The nuclear industry claims that such accidents are unlikely, but major accidents have happened at nuclear power stations, and continue to happen.

The 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station has been described as "the greatest technological catastrophe in human history". The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that the accident released 200 times more radioactivity than was released by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki . In the first year after the accident 400,000 people had to be evacuated. Large tracts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia remain heavily contaminated to this day, and even in the UK agricultural restrictions still apply as a result of radioactive contamination from the accident.

If the Turkish Government goes ahead with its nuclear power program, the Turkish population will have to live with the threat of a major reactor accident within its own borders. A computer modelling study commissioned by Greenpeace shows that an accident at a nuclear reactor at Akkuyu Bay would spew radioactive contamination over Turkey and the Middle East. Such an accident would cause enormous economic and environmental damage, social dislocation, and have a grave impact on the health of surrounding populations.

The potential for such an accident is heightened by the fact that Akkuyu is near the Ecemis fault line. A 1991 report by Turkish seismologists found that this fault was active. Earthquakes in the area around Akkuyu are not uncommon. According to the Global Hypocenter Database of the United States Geological Survey, between 1871 and 1975 there were more than 50 earthquakes within a 200km radius of Akkuyu. A recent report by a US seismologist concluded that: "There is a probability of 50% that an earthquake of magnitude 7 Richter or more will occur within 100 kms of Akkuyu Bay within the next 40 years."

Nuclear power plants = radioactive waste factories

If Turkey develops nuclear power it will have to deal with the massive amounts of radioactive waste that are produced by nuclear power plants. This waste is toxic and in many cases remains hazardous for thousands of years. No other country with a nuclear power industry has found an acceptable solution to the problem of radioactive waste. Attempts to deal with it have been expensive, dangerous and socially divisive. Ironically, some of the countries which are now trying to sell nuclear power stations to Turkey provide the most graphic illustrations of how intractable the problem is.

The alternative path - cleaner, safer, cheaper

Turkey does not need nuclear power. Instead, the Turkish Government could develop cleaner, safer and cheaper alternatives to meet its power needs; energy efficiency and conservation, and development of Turkey's abundant reserves of renewable energy. The amount of electricity that could be saved by implementation of efficiency programs and exploitation of renewable energy would entirely eliminate the need for a nuclear power program, and save Turkey from the environmental, social and financial costs of nuclear power. Further, by relying on indigenous supplies of sun, wind and geothermal energy, renewable energy technologies would enhance Turkey's energy security.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Write to the Turkish Prime Minister.

If you want more information about the Turkish nuclear power program or want to know what you can do to help stop it, contact:
Melda Keskin, Greenpeace Mediterranean
Ben Pearson, Greenpeace International

Reports available on the Turkish nuclear program:
- The Ecemis fault line and the potential catastrophe at the Akkuyu bay
- You can find the Turkey accident modelling study, commissioned by Greenpeace, at this address: http://anusf.anu.edu.au/anusf_visualization/viz_showcase/John_Taylor/Turkey/
- Turkey at an energy crossroads
- Greenpeace public briefing paper on Turkey's nuclear program
- The CANDU syndrome: Canada's bid to sell nuclear reactors to Turkey
- One page briefings on: questions and answers about Turkey's nuclear program, nuclear safety, renewables in Turkey, the potential for energy efficiency a nd conservation, energy security, radioactive waste.