Groups call on Canada to pull the plug on the Akkuyu Nuclear Reactor as Turkey announces further delay

July 25, 2000 

Ottawa – As Turkey announces another delay on the awarding of a bid for a nuclear reactor in Akkuyu, a broad-based coalition of non-governmental organizations calls on Canada to withdraw its bid, which is supported by the Export Development Corporation. 

The delay is likely due to Turkey’s refusal to date to provide a sovereign guarantee for the project which would result in $1.5 billion of debt being placed on the shoulders of Turkey. In order to increase the competitiveness of its tender, AECL is seeking bridge financing.

“AECL is trying to sweeten a sour deal. No amount of bridge financing, nor even a sovereign guarantee from Turkey, should make the Canadian public swallow the risk of this project”, said Dave Martin of the Nuclear Awareness Project.

The loan of 1.5 billion, plus possibly 150 million on bridge financing would make the Akkuyu reactor the biggest overseas investment in Canadian history.

“There is nothing secure about this deal – the financing, its location on an earthquake fault line or the fact it would deliver nuclear capacity to Turkey” notes Pamela Foster, coordinator of the NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation. “EDC, as a public financial institution, has a responsibility to turn down projects that are economically, socially and environmentally not viable”.

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For more information, please contact:

Dave Martin, Nuclear Awareness Project, (905) 852-0571, email nucaware@web.ca

Pamela Foster, NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation (613) 789-4447, email: pfoster@halifaxinitiative.org