Town near Bulgaria may host Turkey's third nuclear plant

İğneada, a small town in the northwestern province of Kırklareli only 5 kilometers from the Bulgaria border, may host Turkey’s third nuclear power plant, according to Energy Ministry officials.

The ministry has already approved plans to build two nuclear plants, one in Akkuyu town in Mersin and another Sinop in the Black Sea region

According to officials speaking to Reuters, İğneada, which lies on the Black Sea coast of the Thrace, is the safest location in terms of earthquake resistance, Hürriyet newspaper reported Wednesday.

Turkey intends to build three nuclear power plants with a total of 15,000 megawatts energy generation capacity by 2023, the officials said.

"There are a few proper places for the third nuclear power plant. İğneada seems to be the best one."

Following these statements, Turkey’s Energy Minister Yıldız said the ministry has not announced any place as the location of a third nuclear power plant, Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists at a meeting held by Spain’s Indar in Istanbul on Tuesday, Yıldız said, “Akkuyu and Sinop are the two areas we’re focusing on for this issue.”

"We said our extensive 2023 vision also includes a third nuclear plant. This idea still exists but our main aim is now to conclude negotiations of the first two plants," Yıldız said. "As all we know, talks related to the first plant have already ended. For the second plant, we will conclude it with a little delay, due to the nuclear crisis experienced in Japan."

İğneada was the first location found suitable when Turkey first put nuclear plant construction on its agenda, Milliyet newspaper quoted Professor Tolga Yarman, an academic at Istanbul’s Okan University, as saying on Wednesday. Highlighting the geographical proximity of İğneada to Istanbul which is the most populated city in the country, Yarman said: "The possible impacts of the power plant on Istanbul should be well examined. It may even undermine tourism to the city."

The distance between İğneada, a national park since 2007, and Istanbul is 250 kilometers.

"We hope to restart nuclear power plant construction talks with related commissions from Japan by the middle of the month," Yıldız said.

Turkey has concluded a deal with Russia to build Turkey’s first nuclear plant in Akkuyu. No exact date has been determined for the groundbreaking of the country’s first nuclear power plant, Yıldız said. The total capacity of the nuclear power plants to be built in Akkuyu and Sinop is expected to be nearly 10,000 megawatts.

Each country and each company interested in nuclear power plants should learn a lot from the nuclear crisis in Japan, Yıldız said. "Turkey is trying to get used to the nuclear culture and has a lot to learn from mistakes. We have nearly 80 parameters about safety systems that should be reconfirmed both by Turkey and the company that conducts the project."


TMC Enerji, a joint venture between Park Group and Cengiz İnşaat, has applied to the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, or EMRA, for a license to establish a 2,000-megawatt capacity nuclear power plant in the northern province of Sinop, Zaman newspaper reported Wednesday.

Park Group is a subsidiary of Turkey’s Ciner Holding. The company applied for the generation license last week.


/Hurriyet Daily News/