Turkey is in talks with South Korea about constructing the country's second nuclear power plant, a media report quoting Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said Thursday, according to dpa. "We want to have two complete nuclear plants by 2023," Yildiz said, according to the daily Referans newspaper. The government was discussing the terms for construction of the plant in the Black Sea port of Sinop, in the north of the country, he reportedly told French business representatives. Turkey is cooperating with Russia in building its first nuclear plant on the Mediterranean. Russian firms are to build four reactor blocks with an overall capacity of 4,800 megawatts in Akkuyu, southern Turkey. The 20-billion-dollar project is scheduled for completion in 2020. The Russian consortium Atomstroiexport, which has positioned itself as the world's leader in the construction of nuclear power facilities, secured the tender. The Akkuyu power plant is expected to help meet the estimated 8- per-cent rise per annum in demand for electricity in Turkey. Critics of the project have noted the risk of a nuclear disaster, given the location of the plant in an earthquake-prone area. They have also raised questions on nuclear waste disposal.
