As Turkey hosted the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in early August, and signed a series of agreements, particularly on energy, one issue stands out and promises for future discussions in and abroad: It is the nuclear power plant to be built in Akkuyu-by Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
After the Turkish government decided to include nuclear energy to its supply basket in order to meet the future demand, a tender, and more accurately a “competition” for the establishment of a nuclear power plant in Akkuyu was opened, and finalized in September 2008. Out of some six bidders, it was the Turkish-Russian consortium (composed of Atomstroyexport, Inter-Rao and Park Teknik) which submitted an offer. Accordingly, 4 units of the VVER-1200 reactors would be built. The price offered for kWh production of electricity, was around 21 cents/kWh. A new proposal was made reducing the price to around 15 cents. Still, this is above the price to make the investment economical for the end-user. What is more, it does not seem to meet the declared goals of the policy, i.e. mitigating dependency on energy and decreasing the energy bill. Thus, it promises for intensified debate considering the protests against the establishment of nuclear power plants in Turkey.
The government and the Energy Ministry underlined that to meet Turkey’s looming energy shortage for the next decades, nuclear energy was a necessity. In addition, it was presented as a cheaper alternative, which would also decrease dependency on natural gas, and especially suppliers. Turkey is around 70% dependent on Russia for its natural gas supply, and the issue becomes threatening for the economy and daily life as the country produces a significant amount of electricity out of natural gas, which is also used in heating. During winter, supply becomes hostage to Russian-Ukranian relations. The establishment of nuclear energy generation facilities by a Turkish-Russian consortium would mean that Turkey will become dependent on Russia for technology and fuel. In addition, Turkey still expects Russia to take down the price further to around 12 cents/kWh.
Another point of discussion is the site: The Akkuyu site was licensed back in the 1970s, and needs a renewed assessment as technical, demographic and environmental facts might have changed in the past three decades. The dissenters to the nuclear energy decision already oppose the project on the basis of adverse effects on agriculture, environment and tourism, and the licensing issue is candidate for a new item in anti-nuclear arguments.
The deal has disappointed even those who supported Turkey’s pursuit of nuclear energy, let alone the new arguments it created for dissenters. Supporters argue that construction of nuclear power plants will mean the transfer of technology, which will mark a “threshold” in technology and contribute to the economy. In addition to decreasing the energy bill and dependency, they argue that, it will increase Turkey’s prestige. The dissenters, on the other hand, are convinced that nuclear power plants are disadvantageous and dangerous, and nuclear energy is expensive and will create further dependencies. According to them, Turkey has sufficient resources, particularly, of renewables, which would substitute the contribution of nuclear energy to the total electricity supply. The deal with Russia took the most powerful arguments of the supporters, i.e. low price and diffusion of dependency through diversification.
Legal infrastructure was found inadequate as well: The Law No. 5710 that governs the establishment of nuclear power plants and the production and sales of electricity thereof, missed the details that would guide investors and government agencies on issues like the type of the reactor, decommissioning, funds for expenses regarding insurance, etc… Nuclear physicists and engineers also warn that the pursuit of nuclear energy requires a parallel effort with the scientific community, such as education and training of the personnel, which seem to be decoupled from the process with the new regulations. In addition, regarding the financing model, there are signals of diversion from the tender specifications, which may arouse further debate on the legal basis of the project.
Abroad, Turkey’s neighbors, particularly, Greece, may have concerns on the establishment of a nuclear power plant by the Mediterranean coast, that it may adversely affect tourism. The increased demand for nuclear energy in the Middle East by a number of states, particularly coinciding with the concerns on Iran’s nuclear program is under scrutiny, and Turkey’s plans for nuclear energy could not escape from that as well. However, Turkey and the United States signed the agreement on the development of civilian nuclear energy in January 2008, the text of which clarifies that there will be no doubt on the civilian pursuit of nuclear technology by Turkey.
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