CHP asks if nuke plant construction started, defying environmental approval

ANKARA

Photos and video footage of the Akkuyu nuclear plant construction site that shows works have begun were released by Greenpeace in February. DHA Photo

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has questioned whether the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear plant in the southern province of Mersin has started without waiting for the environmental approval for the project.

In a written motion submitted yesterday, CHP Mersin Deputy Vahap Seçer asked Energy Minister Taner Yıldız whether the main contractor of the project had indirectly started building the transformer center.
Seçer wanted the minister to explain who the group that demanded 73,000 square meters of agricultural land to build a transformer center in the area was, and whether they were linked to Rosatom or not.

The start of construction for the Mersin Akkuyu plant is scheduled for mid-2015 and by 2023, all four planned reactors are meant to have started generating power, but the project still has to obtain a construction license and was hampered by other delays over the summer.

Without approval, Atomstroyexport, the main contractor chosen by Rosatom to build the reactors, cannot launch tenders for an estimated $7.5-8.0 billion worth of subcontracts.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (ÇED) report by Rosatom, which requires approval from Turkish authorities, had to be resubmitted to the Environmental Ministry in September for the third time, as the previous two were returned.

Seçer also questioned if the members of a provincial board who overturned the land request had been excluded from the decision making process.

“According to media reports, Agricultural Chamber Mersin Branch representatives, who turned down the decision, have been dismissed from the Land Protection Board to maintain a majority to make the decision,” he said, asking Yıldız if this was true.