Turkish-Japaense officials resume nuclear power plant talks

Turkey and Japan have resumed talks on the construction of a nuclear power plant along the country's Black Sea coast, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters on Saturday. Turkey has been engaged in talks with Japan since last year to build the country's second planned nuclear power plant in the Black Sea coastal province of Sinop. However, talks were interrupted in March after the massive earthquake in Japan, prompting the country to request some time from Turkey to deal with the consequences of its own damaged nuclear plant. "We will have a meeting next week to discuss these talks," Yildiz said. Japan's nuclear reactor explosions have prompted countries around the world to either shut down plants or review plans for new plants. In Turkey there were calls to revise its nuclear plans, which call for the construction of two or three nuclear power plants in the coming decades. Turkey is crisscrossed by geological fault lines, and small earthquakes are an almost daily occurrence. The government remains intent on constructing a nuclear power plant in Mersin's Akkuyu district and another one in the Black Sea province of Sinop. Turkey has reached a deal with Russian state-owned atomic power company Rosatom for construction of the Akkuyu plant, but will reportedly ask Russia to boost safety measures there.