Ankara ‘adds’ uranium clause in nuclear deal with Tokyo
Jan. 8, 2014

Ankara demanded allowance for uranium enrichment and plutonium
extraction in a nuclear export deal inked with Tokyo, a Japanese daily
quoted as a Japanese Foreign Ministry official as saying.

A clause, which was added in the nuclear agreement signed by the two
nations, upon Turkey’s demand prompted concerns over a possible
proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The clause at issue allows Turkey to enrich uranium and extract
plutonium, potentially creating nuclear material for weapons, Japanese
daily Asahi Shimbun reported on Jan. 8.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official claimed the clause was
added at the request of Turkey, the daily also reported.

A joint venture involving Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won
an order to construct Turkey’s second nuclear plant in the Black Sea
province of Sinop.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Japan since
Jan. 5, and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, had signed a $22
billion deal on the nuclear plant project.

Safety issues

The pact paves the way for exporting Japan’s enrichment and spent
nuclear fuel reprocessing technologies and is expected to be discussed
at the Japanese Parliament soon before voting on its approval.

The deal was on the agenda during a meeting between the Turkish and
Japanese prime ministers on Jan. 7 in Tokyo, as they have agreed to
accelerate the process.

Japanese exports and anti-nuclear opposition members voice concerns
over Japan’s first nuclear export after the Fukushima disaster,
claiming allowing Turkey’s enrichment and extraction activities would
contradict Japan’s stance against nuclear weapons.

Moreover, Turkey’s earthquake-prone geographical condition stirs
safety debates in the country that became over-sensitive about the
issue after experiencing the Fukushima disaster of 2011 that killed
around 20,000 people.

Yuki Tanabe of the Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and
Society, a nonprofit organization, pointed out a seismic risk in
Turkey, where more than 17,000 people died in a major earthquake in
1999, the daily reported. “Even if Japanese nuclear reactors are
highly resistant to earthquakes, an accident could occur when
facilities around them are damaged,” Tanabe told Asahi Shimbun.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress