PoliGazette » Turkish Parliament Adopts Legislation on Nuclear Plants

Turkish Parliament Adopts Legislation on Nuclear Plants

Filed under: Nuclear Energy, Turkey — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on May 10, 2007 @ 11:30 pm CEST

Parliament on Tuesday adopted a law establishing a legal framework for the construction and operation of the country’s first nuclear power plants.

The legislation authorizes the Energy Ministry to offer and finalize the tender for the construction of the plants and also to decide on their capacity and location. It says public institutions will be allowed to construct the plants if there is no interest from the private sector. The law adds that firms licensed to sell electricity will be able to purchase the power generated by the plants through 15-year agreements.

The government plans to build three plants with a total capacity of about 5,000 megawatts, to become operational in 2012, in a bid to prevent a possible energy shortage and to reduce dependence on foreign energy supplies.

Locals, environmentalists and the biggest opposition party, the CHP, oppose the plan. They are afraid that Turkey’s environment will suffer (too much).

That is, of course, a good argument, but being dependent on other nations is, in today’s world, highly problematic (as well), to say the least.

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