Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — Turkey has been bracing for another delay of its first
nuclear energy reactor.

Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been
unhappy with plans by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom to build four 1,200
megawatt reactors at Akuyu.

The officials said the government was concerned that
the reactors would be unable to withstand an earthquake in Turkey.

“There are many questions over the documents that have been submitted,” an official said.

On July 9, a Rosatom-formed company, Akuyu NGS, submitted the environmental impact analysis report to the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry. Officials said the ministry rejected the 3,000-page report as inadequate.

Officials said the report was sent back to Akuyu NGS after a six-day
examination by the ministry. They said the ministry urged Rosatom to address
the safety aspects of the plant, meant to house four reactors in a complex
estimated to cost $20 billion.

Under the project, Rosatom was scheduled to complete the Akuyu nuclear
complex by 2019. But officials said the rejection of the environmental
impact report could mark another delay in the project.

In 2013, Turkey launched plans to build a second nuclear reactor
project, estimated at $22 billion. Officials said the consortium, led by
France’s Areva and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was expected to
complete the first unit of the nuclear facility by 2023.

  Akuyu, Environment and Urban Planning Ministry, Recep Erdogan, Rosatom, Turkey fears Russian reactor would not withstand earthquake