On the 6th of February one of the 7,7 and the second 7,6 magnitude, earthquakes hit Turkey’s Kahramanmaras city which is at a distance of approx 270 km from the Akkuyu area where the first nuclear power plant of Turkey has been in the construction process since 2019. Due to the earthquakes happening repeatedly, this made its impact even stronger.
Despite Anatolia laying on the fault lines there is ongoing nuclear power plant construction in this country. Turkey has also another nuclear power plant in the north which can be affected by the movements on the North East Fault Line.
Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant was started through an Intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia and Turkey in 2010 and Built-Own-Operate (BOO) model was agreed upon for the construction of reactors. It is on the coast of the Mediterranean in the city of Mersin where the earthquake caused fear. Regarding the devastating earthquake, public concern grew and eyes turned to the safety conditions of Akkuyu. According to the information released by Anastasia Zoteeva from Rosatom, it was said that there was no damage to the Akkuyu NPP, and the earthquake was felt about a magnitude of 3 at Akkuyu so it was not felt strong. But this does not mean that there is no risk. despite it is not devastating this time, this does not mean that it will not be threatening life in the future. Actually, we are even lucky because reactor fuel rods have not been brought to Turkey yet.
The reason we especially need to focus on Akkuyu NPP is that there is a huge lack of transparency. In fact, transparency is avoided by putting forward the ‘security’ rationale in general terms in the processes related to nuclear power plants. However, the way of doing business in Akkuyu NPP as of the date of its construction is itself a source of safety hazard.
Unfortunately till today, many issues happened at the Akkuyu NPP site such as cracks (twice); water leakage; explosion; fire; and three lethal accidents on service buses that carry employees since 2019 when the construction started.
Besides, I have to say that while the government was gaining power in 2016 civil society was ignored and no public hearings were performed properly during the EIA processes. Even in court cases, decisions were given politically. Experts and scientists explained scientific risks within the lawsuits filed by 13 non-governmental organizations, and we also wrote about it publicly. But the law was acquitted, and the same condition was repeated for all legal court cases for both Akkuyu and Sinop projects. As a result, all cases were rejected. These days were prepared in the days when those cases were dismissed.
After the start of the construction problems on-site occurred. Strikes took place, low wages and the unhealthy living conditions in the barracks continued. The Akkuyu NPP has been causing health, occupational safety, and environmental issues even before the start of the operation. Such disregard for nature, human life, risks, and quality will inevitably end in a nuclear disaster when it starts operation. Apparently, even supporters of nuclear energy should oppose the Akkuyu NPP.
We have the power of civil society to raise our voice to have independent auditors/observers on site but we are not heard. It is also not possible because the Akkuyu NPP has been on Russian territory. Tomorrow when another earthquake hits Akkuyu NPP it will be too late for the world if reactor fuels are already loaded in their place. And you know when a nuclear power plant is built there will be related other processes such as waste management, and fuel transportation. Just about 3 months ago the government announced the plan of establishing a final nuclear waste repository in Ankara the city of Capital.
Let me share that scientists have been warning about a strong earthquake in the region of Turkey and Iran for almost 2 years. Recently we learned that all scientific projects they applied to avoid a catastrophe like today’s were rejected by the government and its offices. This shows that the governmental authorities are not interested in scientific facts.
Akkuyu does not only lay at a distance of 25km to an active Ecemiş fault line but according to the geologists there is also another fault line between Cyprus and Akkuyu region continuing under the sea. Besides, lately, it has been understood that there are also blind fault lines in the regions but the governmental authorities are not interested in these facts. Because Fukushima Nuclear Disaster has shown us that earthquakes are alive and their conditions should be taken into consideration before construction. Actually earthquake countries should never be allowed to have nuclear plants on their lands for the sake of the world. There should be standards to be applied and respected.
Pinar Demircan
nukleersiz.org Coordinator, journalist, and independent researcher living in Istanbul
contact: demipinar@gmail.com