Turkey earthquake revives the debate about building a nuclear plant

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A devastating earthquake that toppled buildings in parts of Turkey and neighboring Syria has revived a long-running debate both locally and in neighboring Cyprus about a large nuclear power plant being built on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast.

The plant site in Akkuyu, located about 210 miles (338 kilometers) west of the epicenter of the Feb. 6 earthquake, was designed to withstand strong tremors and suffered no damage or exposure to strong tremors from the 7.8-magnitude quake. and aftershocks.

But the magnitude of the quake – the deadliest in Turkey’s recent history – has heightened existing concerns about the facility being built on the edge of a major fault line.

Rosatom, the Russian state-owned company in charge of the project, says the power plant is designed to “withstand severe external impacts” from a magnitude 9 earthquake. In nuclear power plant construction, the plants are designed to withstand vibrations that are much more intense than previously recorded in the area in which they are located.

Rosatom told the Associated Press by email last week that the probability of a magnitude 9 earthquake near the Akkuyu reactor is “about once every 10,000 years.” “This is exactly how the safety concept margin is implemented.”

A Turkish energy ministry official, when contacted by the AP, said there were no immediate plans to reassess the project. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol. However, some activists still say the project – Turkey’s first nuclear power plant – poses a threat.

Andrew Whitaker, a professor of civil engineering at the University at Buffalo and an expert in seismic engineering and nuclear structures, said that nuclear facilities are built of heavily reinforced concrete, are suited to strong earthquake vibrations, and are much stronger than commercial buildings.

Whitaker added that the fact that it is located just off the western end of the East Anatolian Fault, which was associated with last week’s powerful earthquake, indicates that the design could have been checked for significant shaking.

Still, Whitaker said, it would be wise to re-evaluate the region’s seismic risk calculations for all infrastructure, including the plant.

“There is no cause for alarm,” he said, “but there is always a reason to be careful.”

This is little comfort to activists in Turkey and on both sides of ethnically divided Cyprus. They have renewed calls for the project to be cancelled, saying the devastating earthquake is clear evidence of the great danger posed by a nuclear power plant near seismic fault lines.

In a statement to the AP, the Cyprus Platform Against Nuclear Weapons, a coalition of more than 50 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot environmental groups, trade unions and political parties, said it “calls on all political parties, scientific and environmental organizations and civil society to join the effort and put pressure on the government.” Turkey to finish its plans for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.”

Cypriot MEP Dimitris Papadakis asked the European Commission what immediate measures it intends to take to stop the plant due to the risks posed by building a nuclear power plant in a seismic area very close to Cyprus.

Nuclear power plants around the world are designed to withstand earthquakes and shut down safely in the event of major ground motion—about 20% of nuclear reactors operate in areas of significant seismic activity, according to the World Nuclear Association.

For example, Japanese nuclear plants, including the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, are located in areas where earthquakes of up to magnitude 8.5 are expected, according to the association. Stricter safety standards were adopted after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, when a tsunami hit the Daiichi plant, melting down three reactors and releasing dangerous levels of radiation. And the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in California is designed to safely withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and floods that can occur in the area as well, according to its operator.

Turkish nuclear regulators offered a permit to build the plant in Akkuyu in 1976 after eight years of seismic studies to determine the most suitable site, but the project was slowed down after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. Construction of the first reactor began in 2018. Large nuclear power plants usually take some time due to the size, scale and complexity of the infrastructure, and the delays associated with first-of-its-kind stations.

According to Rosatom, a study by Turkey’s Office of Emergency Prevention and Elimination indicates that the site in Akkuyu – 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the northern coast of Cyprus – is in a Category 5 earthquake zone, which is considered the safest region in terms of earthquakes.

The company said the plant’s design includes an external reinforced concrete wall and an internal protective cover made of “prestressed concrete,” with metal cables stretched inside the concrete shell to give more rigidity to the structure, the company said. Rosatom added that the design of the modern reactor, the Russian VVER-1200, includes an additional safety feature – a 144-tonne steel cone called a “core catcher”, which, in emergency situations, traps and cools any molten radioactive material.

The company confirmed that the power units containing the VVER-1200 reactors comply with the post-Fukushima requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

There is a political dimension to the concern about the station: Cyprus has accused Turkey of increasing Turkish Cypriot dependence on it in order to entrench the ethnic divide on the island. Turkey said it would supply electricity to the separated Turkish Cypriots in the north of the island via an undersea cable. A pipeline hanging 200 meters below the surface of the Mediterranean already supplies water to the north.

The plant, whose first four reactors are scheduled to start commissioning later this year, will have a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts of electricity, providing about 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs. Rosatom added that, according to government figures, if the power plant starts operating today, it could single-handedly provide enough electricity for a city of about 15 million people, such as Istanbul.

Its cost is estimated at $20 billion. Rosatom owns a 99.2% stake in the project and has been contracted to build, maintain, operate and decommission the plant.

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McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Susan Fraser, in Ankara, Turkey, contributed.

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