Turkish environmentalists are deeply concerned about the ongoing construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant and plan to bring their case to Turkey’s highest court.
In the past year, environmental groups have brought up many legal cases against the plant, which is being built in Akkuyu, near Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast. Scientists have argued that the plant will adversely impact the regional ecology and economy, undermining the livelihoods of people who rely on the marine ecosystem and tourism.
Last month, an appeals court upheld a local court’s decision to accept the Turkish government’s environmental impact assessment, even though several news reports said some scientists’ signatures on the report were forged.Following the appeals court’s decision, environmentalists say they plan to petition the Constitutional Court. Sevim Küçük, a lawyer and vocal member of the Mersin Anti-Nuclear Platform, believes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan influenced the appeals court’s decision.
“The president issued instructions to speed up the work one day before the hearing at the appeals court,” she said. “The judiciary was pressured by the executive. As a result, we were not expecting a just decision.”
Küçük says their appeal to the Constitutional Court does not automatically indicate a motion to stay. Plant construction, which began in April 2018 with a ceremony attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan via video conference, is expected to continue during the proceedings. “Lower courts did not issue a motion to stay either, so the construction was continuing during all our legal battles as well,” says Küçük.
Küçük says that government assessment is out of line with scientific evidence and based on falsified expert reports. She believes the report was copy-pasted from falsified expert reports, and that the court, in its decision, copy-pasted the same reports as well.
A key concern of the environmental group is the storage of nuclear waste, which the assessment does not adequately address. “While Europe, Japan, America are trying to close down their nuclear power plants, why is our government so determined to build one?” asks Küçük. “As locals we are worried that the plant will store its nuclear waste in our neighbourhoods.”
Dr. Ful Uğurhan, another member of the anti-nuclear group, says that
The location of Akkuyu is not suited to build a nuclear power plant, argues Ful Uğurhan, another member of the anti-nuclear group. Uğurhan says that the seawater temperatures in Akkuyu are high, which not only means spending more energy to cool down the reactors, but the process will further increase the seawater temperatures and upset the ecological balance.
An active geological fault line near Akkuyu means additional risk.
“Considering the effects of global climate change, it’s not safe to build a nuclear power plant anywhere,” says Uğurhan. “Storms, earthquakes, tsunamis all increase the risk involved in building a nuclear power plant, instead of ecologically safe electricity production plants.” ………https://ahvalnews.com/akkuyu/anti-nuclear-power-plant-activists-turn-turkeys-highest-court
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