Turkish quake proof of nuclear danger

By Martin Hellicar

THE DEVASTATING earthquake which hit South Eastern Turkey on Saturday was ample proof of why Turkey should not be allowed to build a nuclear power plant in the region, Greenpeace stated yesterday.

“Saturday’s earthquake has proven that the area is quake-prone, and in no way should Turkey be allowed to build a nuclear reactor in the area,” Irini Constantinou, of Greenpeace Cyprus said.

Over 100 people lost their lives after a tremor measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck in the Adana area just before 5pm on Saturday. The quake was also felt in Cyprus.

Greenpeace International have been campaigning against Turkish plans to site two nuclear reactors at Akkuyu, on the Southern coast of Asia Minor, about 60km from the coast of Cyprus. The pressure group say a nuclear power plant in such a seismically active area would be a disaster waiting to happen.

Greenpeace Cyprus plans to release more information relating to the proposed site’s vulnerability to quakes before the end of the week.

The environmental group now plans to focus its campaign on the foreign firm that wins the tender for the Akkuyu plant, Constantinou said. A Canadian and a Japanese company are in the running for the contract. Turkey announced the winner of the contract would be made known this month, Constantinou said.

Turkey plans to build seven to ten reactors by the year 2020.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.