Posted by Justin at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Who said speaking out against nuclear power couldn’t be fun? Last week Greenpeace Mediterranean asked the Turkish public, “are you ready to live with nuclear?” by holding a highly visual performance from Abarjazz Avandgard Music Group in Istanbul. It was the first of many activities to come in the following months. Abarjazz Avendgard is a professional drumming group, that came to help us launch our campaign “I lovve nuclear” with an objective to knock out any chance of bringing nuclear power to Turkey in the future. The group played on barrels marked to look like radioactive waste, while wearing gas masks, and activists asked the government to end all nuclear plans present and future. It received a very positive response.

The Turkish government has spent decades entertaining the idea, and working to bring nuclear power here. So far, they have managed to go through the lengthy and expensive tendering process four times, and have failed all four times. Although, most recently, they accepted the one and only bid, from Russian company, Atomstroyexport, and against the tender’s own regulations, they accepted it. Greenpeace, and other local NGOs brought a legal case against such actions, and three days ago, the High Court restricted the conditions of the tender so significantly that it basically brought it to an end.

Even still, as good as this does sound, history has shown us that we cannot call this a full victory yet, but just another failed tender. In spite of repeated failures, calculated proof that nuclear power is incredibly expensive, and the examples of severe danger, such as Chernobyl, the Turkish government has not taken the nuclear option off the table. In fact, they still have another tender process on the agenda for 2010.

We intend to crush the beast while it’s down. From now until the anniversary of Chernobyl on April 26th next year, we will be pull together one million ‘radioactivists’ through our website ilovvenuclear.org. The campaign will be supported by several offline activities and tremendous outreach on the main social networking sites, and will promote the reality that nuclear power is expensive, dangerous and not the right solution for Turkey. One million voices cannot be ignored!

(This is a guest post by Stephanie Hillman, Programme Director for Greenpeace Mediterranean. More information is available in Turkish here. You can follow the ‘I lovve nuclear’ campaign on Twitter here and sign up to the Facebook group here.)

Posted by Justin at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every time you think the thing’s been laid to rest, up to gets again, moaning once more and trudging along to who knows where, half terrifying and half pathetic.

No, we’re not talking about some zombie from a bad horror movie. Yet again it’s Turkey’s bid to build its first nuclear reactor that has us holding our breath – is it really dead this time or will it sit up yet again and begin another rather pitiable campaign of terror? The thing’s had more comebacks than Freddy Kreuger.

The latest hero to vanquish the creature is the Turkish courts who yesterday ‘suspended three articles in the regulations governing the tender process’. The Union of Turkish Engineers' and Architects' Chambers said: ‘With this decision, the nuclear power plant tender has legally ended. It has been rendered invalid."

We hope this is the end of this particular horror franchise – the signs are good but we won’t relax just yet. We’ve seen the sickening sight of the tender process receiving just one bid. We witnessed the stomach-churning scenes of the cost of the electricity that would be produced by the reactor being three times the current average price of electricity in Turkey. We screamed in horror as the technical shortcomings of the single bid were revealed. We trembled in terror as the Turskish government announced it was considering a sequel despite the first episode being a financial and critical flop. And every time the thing got up and lumbered on. Please, enough is enough. It’s dead but it won’t lie down.

(Greenpeace Turkey are doing their utmost to defeat the undead nuclear bid. Check out the mutant heart at I Lovve Nuclear. You can also follow the campaign at @ILovveNuclear.)

Posted by Justin at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was in Turkey this week to talk energy with the country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

Energy companies in both countries agreed to a joint venture to build conventional electric power plants, and the Interfax news agency in Russia reported that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin offered to reopen talks on Russian assistance to Turkey in building nuclear power reactors.

Greenpeace activists revealed nuclear matryoshka dolls of Putin and Erdogan in Ankara’s Kizilay Square. There are certainly surprises waiting inside the Russian-Turkey energy deal, not least Turkey losing energy security by relying on Russian nuclear fuel for any reactor built by Russia’s Atomstroiexport. Add to that the risks of cost and construction over runs, waste management problems, high decommissioning costs, and the distractions from renewable energy sources and energy efficiency programmes, and you have to ask, do we really want to see what’s inside Turkey’s nuclear matryoshka?

(In an attempt to sweeten the nuclear deal and bring down the extortionate construction costs, the consortium bidding to build Turkey’s first nuclear reactor ‘has revised down its price to $0.1235 per kilowatt hour from a previous price of more that $0.15’. That the announcement was made the day before Putin arrived in Ankara was, no doubt, a coincidence. $0.1235 per kilowatt hour is still five cents more expensive than the current average price of electricity in Turkey.)

Posted by Justin at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Turkey’s bid to build its first nuclear reactor has had more comebacks than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator. Every time you think it’s down and beaten, up it climbs again and continues lumbering and clanking along, looking increasingly pathetic as bits fall off.

POW! The bidding process for the contract to build the reactor receives just one bid. It’s down but not out. Up it gets…

CRASH! That one bid says the electricity produced by the new plant would cost 21 cents per kilowatt hour - three times the current average price of electricity in Turkey. Surely this is the end…? No, it doesn’t know when to quit…

BAM! The bid also has technical shortcomings and stipulates a reliance on Russian nuclear fuel. Down it goes for the third time.

But you know what? With a stoic ‘I’ll be back’, the plan refuses to die and is here again for yet another sequel. This time the story has a new hero but it’s all so very familiar. Who looks like they will step up and save this seemingly-doomed plan? Yep, you guessed it, the Turkish taxpayer…

A state energy company may now become a partner in the project to boost investment and ensure its completion, [the Sabah newspaper] said, citing unidentified government officials.

It’s a story we’ve seen over and over again: the nuclear industry, a towering giant that isn’t as impressive or as cool as it looks, having to be rescued by the tiny but brave ordinary underdog public. It’s time for a new script.

Posted by Justin at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:

Today’s Zaman: Turkey's nuclear dreams face uncertain future
’Turkey's long-running dream of having a nuclear power plant is surrounded by uncertainty despite the fact that a recently concluded tender on the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant is about to be finalized. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz said the final decision on the tender would be made in June, but it seems that incertitude about the matter will not be cleard up easily even if the tender is discussed at a Cabinet meeting. As only one company entered the tender and the price offered is considerably high, the Cabinet will not be able to make an easy decision. Moreover, the global economic crisis has taken its toll on funds that were to be allocated to the nuclear power plant contract.’

Continue reading "Nuclear News: Turkey's nuclear dreams face uncertain future" »

Posted by Justin at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)