nuclear-news

Nuclear power for Turkey – pleases Russian sales, not the Turkish people

more than two thirds of the Turks do not want nuclear power. A government that constantly argues that it represents the will of the people is actually acting against the will of the people in this case….

Turkish nuclear power – an unwarranted venture, Hurriyet Daily News, ERHUN KULA, 12 April 12 On Nov. 9, 2007, the ruling Justice and Development Party passed a law in the Turkish Parliament to build nuclear power plants in Turkey, which started the nuclear ball rolling. The government argued that this venture would provide “cheap,” “clean,” “safe” and sustainable energy to help rapidly expanding and diversifying Turkish industry. Of course, none of these claims about nuclear power is true. In fact, it is extremely expensive, unclean, unsafe and unsustainable. 
As a first step, the government granted permission to the Russians to build a 4800 megawatt nuclear power generation unit in Akkuyu, Mersin. Energy Minister Taner Yildiz informed the press that the Mersin unit would provide 5% of the nation’s energy needs by the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic. It thus became obvious that Turkey would take enormous risks for just 5% of her energy needs. However, a few weeks ago the Prime Minister announced that nuclear energy would expand further, to create 10% of the country’s energy supply….

Surveys reveal that more than two thirds of the Turks do not want nuclear power. A government that constantly argues that it represents the will of the people is actually acting against the will of the people in this case….
Studies in France (available from the author), the most nuclear dependent nation, reveal that nuclear energy is more expensive then hydro and fossil fuel powered units, even when the end cost of nuclear power plants – which is decommissioning and storing highly dangerous nuclear wastes in repositories for thousands of years – is ignored. The most expensive and risky problem with nuclear energy is the safe disposal of the radioactive waste. It has to be transported over long distances, stored and monitored over a very long period of time…… there is an undeniable moral issue here. Of course,   in Turkey  these problems will fall mostly upon the future generations, our children and grand children, and they will not be grateful to us for that…..
As for the alleged cheapness of nuclear energy, even when ignoring decommissioning and waste storage costs, the situation is actually the reverse. Electricity produced by the Russian company at Akkuyu will be bought by TEDAS and then distributed to the users. TEDAS will pay the producer $0.1234 per unit. What will the users pay? TEDAS will base this on sum distribution costs, waste allowances, retail service allowances, meter reading costs, energy taxes, value added taxes and radio-television taxes. At the moment the consumer is paying about $0.12 day-time and $0.076 night-time. When nuclear energy starts reaching customers they will pay more than what they pay today, in a country where energy prices one of the most expensive in the world.

Advocates of nuclear energy argue that we need nuclear energy to meet the growing demand.   in Turkey  15-20 percent of the electricity produced is lost in distribution and stolen by the end users. So the most logical step to take is to prevent waste and pilferage. We do not need nuclear power. The Akkuyu unit is likely to cost $20 billion. Obviously some people, including the Russians, will make a lot of money at the expense of Turkish customers. This is why the vested interest is passionately arguing for nuclear power…….

Professor Erhun Kula, from Istanbul’s Bahçesehir University, researched economic and moral aspects of nuclear power in the U.K., the United States and Sweden, and has published widely in this field.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-nuclear-power–an-unwarranted-venture.aspx?pageID=238&nID=18223&NewsCatID=396

April 12, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Turkey