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NUCLEAR AWARENESS PROJECT
Media Release

For release -- September 13, 1999

Decision still expected by October 15th... “Conspiracy of Silence” on Earthquake Risk at Turkish Nuclear Site

Toronto -- In the wake of Turkey’s Izmit earthquake last August 17th, a new report has condemned the Turkish government and international nuclear vendors for a “conspiracy of silence” on the earthquake risk at Turkey’s Akkuyu nuclear site. Recent geological research near Akkuyu has been ignored and the Turkish government has refused to release its own research for public review.

Three international consortia are bidding to build the Akkuyu nuclear plant, including Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) -- a Canadian government-owned corporation. The Turkish government still intends to decide on a nuclear vendor to build the Akkuyu nuclear plant by October 15th -- two years to the day after the original bids were opened. AECL is competing against Nuclear Power International (NPI) -- a partnership of Siemens (Germany) and Framatome (France); and a partnership of Westinghouse (USA) and Mitsubishi (Japan).

The Izmit earthquake has caused over 15,000 deaths and has left 600,000 homeless. Corruption, failure to enforce building standards, and a poor emergency response may indicate what can be expected in nuclear safety regulation if the Akkuyu nuclear plant is built.

The report suggests that the earthquake qualification for AECL’s proposed nuclear plant should be 2 to 3 times higher. Recent independent research has indicated the presence of an active fault line in the vicinity of the site. Confidential AECL documents also reveal that the proposed nuclear plant with two 700 MW CANDU reactors uses a new ‘floating foundation’ as an anti-earthquake measure. The floating foundation has not been used on any previous CANDU plant, so its performance cannot be guaranteed. This violates Turkey’s terms of reference for nuclear plant bids, which required an existing reference plant with five years of operating experience.

The report was written by David Martin, Research Director of Nuclear Awareness Project, a nuclear watchdog based in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. Martin stated,

“The nuclear vendors and Turkish authorities are sacrificing safety to save money. Lower earthquake qualification means lower cost, but a higher risk of nuclear disaster.”

“The Turkish government and foreign reactor vendors are engaged in a mutual conspiracy of silence to conceal the real risk of earthquake damage to a nuclear plant at Akkuyu.”

Akkuyu Bay is on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 45 km south-west of the city of Silifke, directly inshore from Cyprus.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: David H. Martin, tel. 905-852-0571

Click here to read “The Izmit Earthquake and the Akkuyu Nuclear Plant Proposal”. Copies are also available by fax, hard copy or e-mail from the Nuclear Awareness Project (10 pages).

Nuclear Awareness Project
P.O. Box 104 Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada L9P 1M6
Tel/Fax 905-852-0571
E-mail: nucaware@web.net