Turkey is demanding 100% financing of the Akkuyu plant, even including the local costs, which will be to its direct economic benefit. It is not clear if Turkey will provide a `hard' sovereign guarantee of the debt. In addition, there are crucial questions about: the absence of risk insurance on the loans; whether the vendor will be required to provide a performance guarantee; who will make up the shortfall in case of cost overruns; and the degree to which vendors will have to transfer their manufacturing and marketing rights. There have also been suggestions that Turkey is demanding "counter-trade" agreements - - a carpets for nukes deal!

The dark underside of nuclear power has always been its potential for nuclear weapons proliferation, either through the production of plutonium - - an inevitable byproduct of reactor operation - - or through the transfer of sensitive nuclear information, technology and materials. Since the early 1980s there have been reports that Turkey has aided Pakistan in its acquisition of nuclear weapons. Turkey's attempt to build the Argentinean CAREM-25 reactor was likely aimed at plutonium production for nuclear weapons.

Terrorists do not need nuclear weapons if they can trigger a catastrophic radiation release by sabotaging or bombing a nuclear power plant. Potential security threats to a nuclear plant in Turkey would be both internal and external. Turkey has been in a virtual state of civil war for more than a decade, and the longstanding military conflict with Greece over control of Cyprus is again heating up. Cyprus is directly offshore from proposed nuclear station at Akkuyu Bay.

Turkey has a long history of gross human rights abuses, and these abuses have worsened in recent years. Abuses include systematic, widespread torture and murder of prisoners in custody; death squad murders; disappearances; restrictions on freedom of speech; and incommunicado detention without legal representation. A virtual state of war with Kurdish rebels has resulted in an estimated 20,000 deaths since 1984 and the displacement of two million people in the southeastern provinces, where a state of emergency is in place.

Turkey does not provide a secure environment for a risky, multi-billion dollar, long-term nuclear investment. There have been four military coups in recent years in Turkey in 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997. On June 18, 1997, the democratically elected Prime Minister, Necmettin Erbakan, was forced to resign by the military and Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the conservative Motherland Party, was named Prime Minister. The intense political instability of Turkey in 1996-97 has also destabilized the country's economy. Annual inflation in Turkey is over 80%. The annual deficit is about $15 billion, and the country's debt is about $100 billion.

The risk of earthquake damage is a serious consideration for the Akkuyu nuclear site. One analyst has stated, "There is a probability of 50% that an earthquake of magnitude 7 Richter or more will occur within 100 kms of Akkuyu Bay within the next 40 years."

The Mediterranean Monk Seal (Monachus monachus) is one of the ten most endangered species in the world, with only about 200 seals left in existence. There is a seal colony on islands in the mouth of Akkuyu Bay. The water intake and sea traffic for the plant will pose a real danger to the seals.

All reactor designs share certain basic safety and environmental risks - - namely the risk of catastrophic accidents; the problem of routine emission of radioactive pollutants; as well as the production of radioactive waste and the ultimate problem of reactor decommissioning.

Turkey has a relatively low per capita electricity consumption. This is an opportunity rather than a problem. Turkey has an opportunity to avoid the mistake of investing in nuclear power that has been made in many countries. A truly sustainable energy future in Turkey will be based on efficiency and renewable energy not nuclear power.

Throughout the western world, nuclear power has been put on hold. It is widely recognized that nuclear power is the highest cost option for electricity generation, and carries significant environmental, safety, and economic risks not shared by other forms of generation. Nuclear performance is often poor, resulting in even higher costs. Nuclear power plants typically have very long lead time for design, approval, and construction, in addition to high capital cost. Disguised costs include radioactive waste management and reactor decommissioning.

The construction of a nuclear power plant on the Mediterranean Sea will do irreparable damage to Turkey's valuable and growing tourism industry. Construction of the Akkuyu nuclear plant will drive tourists away, and could lead to a boycott of Turkey as a tourist destination.