Journalists of the leading mass media of Mersin Province (Turkey) visited the Public Information Center of Akkuyu NPP

The Public Information Centers (PIC) of Akkuyu NPP in the city of Mersin and settlement of Büyükeceli (the nearest residential area to the construction site) welcome the visitors. Nazmi Akdağ, the editor in chief of “İmece”, daily newspaper of Mersin Province, together with the editorial board has visited the Mersin PIC. Mr. Akdağ who also represents Cumhuryet, the regional daily, together with the staff of the print media got acquainted with the center’s exposition, received detailed answers to their questions of interest.
 
During the meeting Faruk Uzel, PIC Director, said that the Project Company has submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (MoEU) of Turkey the Report on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) with respect to the Akkuyu NPP construction project. The document incorporates all suggestions of the members of the Ministry of Environment’s Commission of the Republic of Turkey. The PIC Director explained: “the first meeting of the Commission took place in October 2013 after approval of the Report format, and in the course of it the public authorities, social organizations, higher education establishments, nature protection organizations of the Republic of Turkey had forwarded their suggestions and recommendations. The new version of the Report covers the responses to all questions received; it takes into consideration all recommendations. Now we are waiting for the final meeting of the Evaluation Commission of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization».
 
When asked about any activities being currently conducted on the site, Faruk Uzel responded: «The Project Company does not carry out any civil engineering works directly related to building of the nuclear island. As of today the mining license is now available and under the document the lime quarry is operating, which production is used for road construction». The Akkuyu NPP PIC Director highlighted the fact that any active construction preparatory work would only start after approval of the EIAR.
 
In response to the question of a mass communication representative about suitability of the region for NPP construction from the seismic point of view Faruk Uzel said: «Over 40 criteria should be taken in due account prior to approval of the site for a nuclear plant, and seismic activity has a special place among them. Seismic activity analysis is a must. The site in Akkuyu has been marked as the safest territory in terms of earthquake probability on the maps recently prepared by the Seismic Research Center of the Main Geological Survey Directorate (MTA) of Turkey. But nevertheless the regional seismic activity over two thousand years is being studied; the work has started in 1976. The last three years we are analyzing the findings of the accomplished works using modern techniques. The maximum probability of an earthquake in the area of construction is much less than the considered one. And according to the construction design the nuclear power plant will be able to withstand the 9-point earthquake. The Akkuyu NPP’s design prevents any damage to the environment even in the event of such an earthquake. When modeling tsunami situations together with the Middle East Technical University (ÖDTÜ) of the Republic of Turkey it has been found that in the worst-case scenario the tsunami wave height after the maximum possible earthquake would be 10.5m. And the foundation of Akkuyu NPP has been designed to be 12m above the sea level».
 
Faruk Uzel underlined that it was impossible to reduce the electric power deficit in Turkey thanks to renewable sources only. He said: «If you wanted to ensure an uninterrupted power supply generated by the sun or wind to large industrial cities (for instance, Kocaeli or Antep), millions of batteries would be installed. It would entail big costs related to storage, serious environmental problems for lead, zinc, lithium and other heavy metals environmentally harmful would be used in solar batteries. It is necessary for Turkey to use different power sources and take into consideration that the renewable ones are unable to fully satisfy the country’s needs in electric power. According to the data of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Turkey power consumption in 2013 was 250 terawatt-hours. Even the use of the total potential of renewable sources would not fully meet the power demand. As of today the dependency of Turkey upon external power delivery accounts for 70%. The nuclear energy is one of ways to eliminate the deficit. Up to 17% of power the country needs Turkey can obtain while operating NPPs in Akkuyu, Sinop and the third one which site is to be specified. And it means that importation of hydrocarbons will be cut down by 17%, and it will reduce expenses for energy import».