Nuclear deal caps Medvedev’s visit to Turkey
l/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2010/05/14/featu re-02
14/05/2010
A trip to Turkey by Russia’s president yields a landmark deal on
building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. But critics say the deal
will create even greater energy dependency on Moscow.
By Erol Izmirli for Southeast European Times in Istanbul — 14/05/10
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left) and Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands at a joint press conference Wednesday
(May 12th). [Getty Images]
After more than a year of negotiations, Turkey and Russia have
concluded a deal to build a nuclear power plant on Turkey’s southern
coast. The project could cost as much as $20 billion.
The agreement between Russia’s state-owned Atomstroyexport and the
Turkish government was signed on Wednesday (May 12th), midway through
Russian President Dimitry Medvedev’s two-day trip to Ankara and
Istanbul.
"It’s an extremely important contract for us," Russian nuclear agency
chief Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters. "This will be the first case in
which Russia not only builds a power plant, as we have in Iran and
India, but will also own it," he added.
Atomstroyexport will be in charge of building the plant’s four
reactors, in the eastern Mediterranean town of Akkuyu, in Mersin
province. Construction will take an estimated seven years to complete.
The reactor builder will own 100% of the project and may later sell as
much as 49% to investors.
Turkey’s leaders are hailing the deal — which must be endorsed by
parliament — as a milestone in efforts to develop nuclear power. They
say it will be presented to lawmakers within a week to ten days.
"Let me be frank: We [have been] trying to enter the nuclear business
for the last 40 years but unfortunately we do not know how to do it,"
Energy Minister Taner Yıldız told reporters on the sidelines of a
conference in Istanbul.
"We have to see the big picture. Previous tenders were cancelled fours
times by the court. We believe in the need of nuclear energy for
Turkey and are confident that we will be successful in this," he said.
The plans, however, have drawn strong criticism from civic and
environmental organisations. The Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO)
is questioning the terms and has warned the deal could actually
increase Turkey’s energy dependence on Moscow.
"Full authority of the to-be-built nuclear power plant belongs to
Russia. This agreement will not make Turkey a hub of nuclear
technology as the government suggests; it will make us more dependent
on Russia," the chamber said in a statement Thursday.
With nearly 65% of Turkey’s natural gas coming from Russia, critics
say Moscow could use its role as energy supplier as a political tool.
According to the EMO, the cost of electricity from the planned nuclear
power plant will be significantly higher than the global market
averages. "We’ll have to pay nearly $51 billion to the Russians over
15 years for 415 billion kilowatts of electricity," the organisation
said.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace Turkey said the government ignored opposition
from local Mersin residents, academics and NGOs. "It’s a very
undemocratic process," the group said.