Turkey delays inauguration of first nuclear plant tender

Turkey has recently experienced frequent cuts in its natural gas imports from ıran and Azerbaijan, on which it relies heavily for electricity production. Nuclear power is one of the best options Turkey has, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler has said. "We must use this technology while minimizing its risks," Guler said at a recent ıstanbul conference. Guler said nuclear power should answer 20 percent of Turkeys energy needs and decrease reliance on imported gas, thereby providing energy security.

Power plants fueled by natural gas produce nearly half of Turkeys total electricity output. NATO member Turkey imports a majority of its natural gas from Russia and ıran.

Alim Isik, a lawmaker on the parliamentary committee that prepared the law allowing a nuclear plant, said nuclear technology had potential but that Gulers vision was not realistic. Construction of nuclear plants take up to a decade, he said, making it difficult to have a high nuclear energy capacity in short term. A French nuclear energy company, Areva, is reportedly interested in building the Turkish nuclear power plant.

But lawmaker Yilmaz Tankut, who was involved in the nuclear issue and is a member of a nationalist party, said the job should not be given to a company from a country with which Turkey has "outstanding problems." The Mediterranean port city of Mersin has been designated as the primary site for the nuclear plant. Another plot on the Black Sea coast, Inceburun in Sinop province, is planned for a second nuclear plant, state-run news agency Anatolia said.

Hilal Atici, Mediterranean climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace, said both sites were prone to earthquakes and that construction of nuclear plants was far too costly.