Turkish energy minister defends nuclear energy in Turkey

"Turkey is the only country without access to nuclear energy among the top 30 developed countries in the world," Taner Yildiz said

Turkish energy minister on Saturday upheld the government's decision to set up the country's first nuclear power plant amid growing global concerns about the safety of nuclear energy in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis. "There are 442 nuclear power plants in the world and 225 of them are in the United States, France and Japan. Turkey is the only country without access to nuclear energy among the top 30 developed countries in the world," Taner Yildiz told "the Second Leadership Forum" at Ankara's Bilkent University.

Turkey has signed an agreement with Russia for a consortium led by by Russia's nuclear company Atomstroyexport to construct Turkey's first nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean port of Mersin's Akkuyu town.
The government is planning to build a second plant in the Black Sea port of Sinop. Talks are underway with Japanese companies Toshiba and Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO), which operates the troubled Fukishima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
Sahin said 26 nuclear power plants in the world were over 40 years old, adding that old-technology plants should be shut down.

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