TURKEY TO ANNOUNCE ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM SOON

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.03.2006 00:09 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey will soon announce its program on the
peaceful use of nuclear energy, Turkish FM Abdullah Gul stated after
a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director
General Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna. “Our nuclear program will be
of peaceful nature exclusively. It will be based on transparency,
openness to cooperation and interaction with the IAEA. Within its
nuclear program Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants (NPP)
by 2016. The construction of these, according to experts’ estimates,
will cost $7-8 billion. The overall capacity of Turkish NPPs will
make some 5 thousand MW,” Gul remarked.

Beginning the building of the first station is scheduled in 2007. The
first Turkish NPP will be built in Sinop Black Sea province. It will
be run by 2012.

Russia, US, China, UK, France, Canada, South Korea and Japan show
interest towards the construction project.

Turkey has many times announced a tender for NPP building. In 2000
the project of the first NPP was closed owing to lack of financing.

Turkish authorities speeded up works relating to the building of the
NPP after abrupt decrease of natural gas import from Iran in January
2006. Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Hilmi Guler said
at the time it was necessary to reduce external dependency from energy
supplies and its soonest diversification, reports CNN-Turk TV Company.