By Jean Christou
LOCAL greens are being urged to join an international campaign to protest against Turkey’s plans to build a nuclear reactor on its southern coast.
At a conference in Greece attended by Cypriot environmentalists on the impact of the proposed plant at Akkuyu, which lies just 250 kilometres from Nicosia, green groups said a call to arms was needed to prevent such a catastrophe.
The international environmental group Greenpeace has already taken up the issue.
David Martin, a research director of the Canadian-based environmental organisation Nuclear Awareness Project, told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that the issue had to be taken seriously.
“What we are trying to do now is to organise an international petition campaign that will be from the people of Turkey, the people of Greece, Cyprus as well as Germany and France and will aim at the French, Canadian and German governments,” Martin said.
Voices have also been raised that Turkey could have its eyes on obtaining plutonium 239 – a key ingredient for an atomic bomb.
Experts say the plant lies in a seismically sensitive area, and an earthquake like the one that occurred in Turkey last June, just 136 kilometres east of the site, could have catastrophic consequences on Turkey and its neighbours. June’s quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.
Criticism has also been levelled at the Canadian reactor design, CANDU, and efforts are afoot to orchestrate a campaign against the sale.
“The CANDU reactor design is such that severe shaking produced by a quake will cause the break in the main heat transport… It is quite irresponsible of Canadians to support a proposal that has the potential to destroy millions of lives,” said Karl Buckthought from the Canadian-based Earthquake Forecasts inc.
The announcement of the winning tender is overdue and could be delayed until after elections in Turkey in April 1999. A further six months might also be available while contracts are being drawn up and signed.
“We have a window of opportunity now that if we mobilise quickly and if we speak with a loud enough voice, we really can stop this crime against humanity,” Martin said.
