Media Release
For release Thursday, September 25, 1997
Ottawa -- A new study, released today by the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout
(CNP), shows the proposed export of CANDU reactors to Turkey will have
unacceptably high economic, environmental and ethical costs. At the same
time, 40 Canadian environmental groups are issuing a joint statement strongly
opposing the sale.
David Martin, research director for the Nuclear Awareness Project and author
of the new study, The CANDU Syndrome: Canada's Bid to Export Nuclear
Reactors to Turkey , notes that "just as the large-scale shutdown
of nuclear power reactors has begun in Ontario, AECL is trying to sell
the same failed technology to Turkey. If Canada cannot operate CANDUs safely
after 30 years of experience, how can we expect Turkey to."
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is trying to sell Turkey between
two to four 700 MWe CANDU reactors. Turkey is opening the bids from AECL
and other reactor vendors on October 15, and is expected to choose a vendor
in March 1998.
"Turkey wants AECL to finance 100 percent of a reactor deal that could
cost from $4 to $8 billion. This would be the biggest loan in Canadian
history, as well as the biggest risk of all time for Canadian taxpayers.
Canadians can no longer afford to bankroll AECL," Martin points out.
"It's CANDU déjà-vu," says Elizabeth May of the
Sierra Club of Canada. "If the CANDU sale to Turkey proceeds there
is no chance an environmental assessment would be done, given past experience
with CANDU sales to China." Sierra Club of Canada's legal challenge
to the China sale--a deal that required $1.5 billion in financing from
Canadian taxpayers-- is still before the courts.
Marc Chénier, president of the Centre d'analyse des politiques énergétiques,
notes that the sale of CANDU reactors to Turkey is a no-win situation.
"Every reactor sale not only increases the burden on Canadian taxpayers,
it also increases the risks of nuclear proliferation and environmental
degradation".
The Ottawa Declaration , which has been endorsed by 40 environment
groups across Canada, states that a truly sustainable future for both Canada
and Turkey must be based on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The
groups are also concerned about selling nuclear technology to a country
known for systematic torture and civil strife between the government and
armed opposition groups.
"AECL claims that nuclear power is the power of choice. However, the
people in the countries targetted for CANDU reactors exports do not have
the power to choose," says Kristen Ostling of the Campaign for Nuclear
Phaseout. "Countries like Turkey, Indonesia and South Korea, AECL's
top marketing priorities, are also top violators of democracy and human
rights. Canada should act responsibly and get out of the CANDU exports
business."
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For more information:
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, cnp@web.net, 613-789-3634
Nuclear Awareness Project, 905-852-0571
Sierra Club of Canada, sierra@web.net, 613-241-4611
Centre d'analyse des politiques énergétiques, 514-527-2712
Available upon request:
The Ottawa declaration: No CANDU for Turkey (1 page) and the Executive
Summary of The CANDU Syndrome: Canada's Bid to Export Nuclear Reactors
to Turkey (4 pages).
Click here to read the Executive Summary of The CANDU Syndrome
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout