Locals Alarmed as Turkey Might Build NPP on Bulgaria's Border

The construction site of what could become a Turkish NPP is said to be visible from the Bulgarian Black Sea village of Rezovo. Map from bivol.bg

Locals in both Bulgaria and Turkey are said to be alarmed as the Turkish government is seriously considering building its third nuclear power plant in a small Black Sea town right on the Bulgarian border, according to reports.

The municipality of the small Black Sea Turkish town of Igneada, a town of some 2 000 inhabitants, located 5 km south of the Rezovska (Rezovo) River, which marks the Bulgarian-Turkish border, has received a letter from the central government in Ankara announcing the upcoming construction of a nuclear power plant and thermal power plant on the spot.

The letter was received on October 18, 2012, reported Bulgarian investigative journalism site Bivol citing Mrs. Gulten Avci in her capacity as a resident of Igneada.

The project for a Turkish NPP on the Bulgarian border will be discussed publicly in Igneada on October 31, 2012, as a result of the government's motion, the report says.

"We want you to come as well and to help us because this is a catastrophe for both us, and you," the Turkish woman is quoted as saying.

"Everything in the Strandzha [Mountain] is going to die, not a single ant will remain living here," she added, making clear the expectations of the locals in the Turkish municipality that the Bulgarian media will demonstrate interest in the matter, and will cover the public discussion of the alleged Igneada NPP project.

The report says that the residents of Igneada have signed a petition against the construction of a NPP in their municipality, and have tabled it to the local authorities, while the local hotel owners are preparing a written complaint to the Turkish Council of Ministers in Ankara.

The locals are further reported to attempt to ruin the public discussion in order to block the ensuing legal procedures for the proceeding with the construction of a NPP in Igneada.

According to Bivol's source, the Turkish government is already constructing infrastructure that is supposed to service the future NPP and TPP in the small Black Sea town in European Turkey.

"They have been building for years. It is claimed to be a[n artificial] liman but who knows if that's true. They don't tell us anything," Mrs. Avci is quoted as saying.

Bivol points out that the construction site in Igneada is visible from the Bulgarian border village of Rezovo.

The mayor of Igneada is further alleged to have inquired the district governor about the construction, which is also said to use privately-owned plots, without receiving any information in return.

Mrs. Avci is also quoted as saying that a professor from the Turkish resort of Marmaris visited Igneada two days ago in order to inform the locals about the consequences from the construction of a NPP in the region.

Bivol stresses that the construction of a nuclear power plant on the Bulgarian Black Sea border can ruin Bulgaria's Southern Black Sea tourism since foreign tourists would hardly be willing to swim in the sea several dozen kilometers away from a NPP that will be using the sea water for cooling its reactors; the Bulgarian government has not come with an official position on the potential construction of Turkish NPP on the Bulgarian border.

In April 2011, reports in Turkish media citing Energy Ministry sources said Turkey planned to construct a nuclear power plant in the small Black Sea town of Igneada, located 5 km south of the Rezovska (Rezovo) River, which marks the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

Burgas, the fourth largest city in Bulgaria and an important tourist destination, is located only 75 km north of Igneada, and its citizens and authorities expressed concern.

Back in April 2011, the Turkish Consul in Burgas Sibel Arkan told Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov that Igneada is only the project with the third highest possibility to become Turkey's third NPP and the Turkish government is yet to take a decision on its construction.

In May 2010, Turkey reached an agreement with Russia for the construction of what will become Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Mersin's Akkuyu district. Turkey's second NPP is to be located in Sinop on the Black Sea.

Tekirdag in European Turkey and the capital Ankara were reported at the time to be the most likely locations for Turkey's third NPP. Reports suggest that TAEK has identified Igneada on the Black Sea, as a third nuclear power plant site, future NPP site itself being 12 km from the Bulgarian border. Turkish environmentalist groups are said to be opposed to the construction of a NPP in the Thrace region in European Turkey.

Back in June 2011, Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev said Turkey's Ambassadors in Sofia and Brussels had refuted the reports about a future NPP in Igneada.

Igneada, the most likely site of the third Turkish nuclear power plant is only 5 km south of the Bulgarian-Turkish border, on the Black Sea coast. Map by neredennereye.com

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