By Elias Hazou
The government said on Thursday it will be issuing demarches “in every direction” against the planned construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in southern Turkey.
Government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said the operation of the power station posed a health risk to the region, but especially to Cyprus due to its proximity to the location of the facility.
Prodromou accused Turkey of disregarding the serious reservations expressed about the nuclear plant by various sides, including the European Parliament which had called on Ankara to cease the project due to the dangers posed in an area with significant seismic activity.
He said Ankara had not consulted with countries like Greece and Cyprus, thus demonstrating its disregard for good neighbourly relations.
“The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus shall issue demarches and make representations in every direction,” he said.
Earlier this week the leaders of Turkey and Russia marked the official start of work to build Turkey’s first nuclear power station, launching construction of the $20 billion Akkuyu plant in the southern province of Mersin.
The plant, with a total capacity of 4800 megawatts, is not expected to be completed before 2023.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said that once fully operational the station would meet 10 per cent of Turkey’s energy needs.
The move has drawn widespread condemnation from within Cyprus.
Theodoros Christoudias, associate professor at The Cyprus Institute, spoke to the Cyprus News Agency of the high risk of radioactive contamination in Cyprus in the event of an accident at the Akkuyu plant.
The dangers were due not only to the geographical proximity but also the weather patterns in the region.
Citing a study published in 2014, Christoudias said Nicosia stood to suffer the same exposure to radioactive aerosols as did the Turkish town of Mersin.
The ingestion of radioactive particles inside the food supply would pose a greater danger than atmospheric contamination, he said.
Moreover, the radioactive isotope Caesium has a half-life of 30 years.
Christoudias was citing the study he co-authored with Yiannis Proestos, also of The Cyprus Institute, and Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany.
