Nuclear Plant Ceremony Met with Protests

The groundbreaking ceremony of Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, planned to be Turkey’s first was held as lawsuits against the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report continue.

A group that reacted to the groundbreaking ceremony prevented those inside from going outside by holding the door. Police tanks (TOMA) sprayed protesters with water. Demonstrators dispersed after a while.

Cengiz Construction had won the tender for the turnkey project design and construction of the marine hydro-technic structures whose foundations were laid in the ceremony today.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, Russian Atomic Energy Agency Rosatom General Manager Sergey Kiriyenko, Akkuyu Nuclear Inc. General Manager Fuad Akhundov and other high-level executives attended Akkuyu Nuclear Marine Structures’ groundbreaking ceremony in Gülnar district.

Lawsuits continue

The lawsuits filed against the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report by TMMOB Chamber of Environmental Engineers (ÇMO), Union of Turkey’s Bar Associations (TBB), Turkey Medical Association (TTB), Greenpeace and the Ecology Collective are ongoing.

The justifications provided in the lawsuits include lack of sufficient information concerning waste in the EIA report, uncertainty of who will be held economically and socially responsible in the case of an accident, lack of earthquake risk evaluation and lack of scientific research on the effects on the marine ecosystem. (NV)

Greenpeace volunteers also staged concurrent protests today in Mersin and Istanbul provinces as the ceremony took place.

Protestors congregating in the two cities at the same time delivered the message: ‘Nuclear [power] kills, I want to live’.

Anti-Nuclear Platform members also supported the protest in Büyükeceli Municipality located in Mersin Akkuyu where the ceremony was held.

* Photograph: twitter

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