Turkish nuclear plans on Mediterranean raise fears

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey plans to build a nearby coastal nuclear plants in earthquake-prone area, dismissing the concerns of neighbors who watch Japan nuclear disaster that the new plant could be a risk to the entire Mediterranean region.

Greece and Cyprus say the move is a gamble that could cause a disaster and want the EU to consider the plan of the EU candidate in a debate fraught with political and historical baggage. Turkish officials insist the plant is safe and necessary to keep the economy strong in the country is going.

The EU is the reassessment of energy policy throughout the 27-nation bloc and questioning the role of nuclear power on a continent where we can not forget that Ukraine in 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation for thousands of miles (kilometers).

But Turkey is well portrayed by plans to build three nuclear power stations in coming years - including one in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast near the fault Ecemis, which explains an expert could generate a magnitude-7 earthquake.

Greece is firmly opposed to the plant - calling for his longtime rival in an EU summit at which the Bloc has accepted controls on its 143 reactors.

"Nuclear energy for us is not an option because we are in a highly active seismic region," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in Brussels last week. "The EU will seek to stress tests make the existing and planned facilities in neighboring -. And we have stressed that Turkey plans to build a nuclear site at Akkuyu "