'No problem' for Turkey to have nuclear power plants

By Diyar Guldogan

ISTANBUL (AA)- There is "no problem" for Turkey having a nuclear power plant, Seyed Mohammad Hossein Adeli, secretary-general of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), said on Thursday.

"We should have, and countries like Turkey could have this [nuclear power plant] as one of the sources in its energy mix. There is no problem," Adeli told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the 22nd World Petroleum Congress, the largest meeting of the oil and gas industry in Istanbul, of which the agency is the global communication partner.

Adeli said the "only" concern with nuclear power is in implementing a safety regime and the provision of security mechanisms that one should be "quite" careful about.

"But other than that, it is one of the sources of energy," he said

Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants: the first at Akkuyu in the Mersin province, the second at Sinop on the Black Sea coast, and a third at an as-yet unannounced location.

Asked whether it is "good" for Turkey to have nuclear energy, Adeli replied, "Of course."

"I think that Turkey is a very important energy country, not in terms of energy production, but in terms of energy transition," he said, adding that energy resources via Turkey can reach not only Europe but Asia also.

Adeli hailed Turkey's position at the "center" for energy and declared that it is a "very important" player.

"This is why any kind of decision on the part of [global] producers or consumers I think should involve Turkey as one of the stakeholders," he added.