Turkey Reiterates It Won't Build NPP on Bulgarian Border

Turkey's government has officially declared that it does not plan to construct a nuclear power plant just several kilometers away from its border with Bulgaria.

Turkey has sent an official note to Bulgaria refuting recent rumors that it was planning to build a nuclear power plant in the town of Igneada, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has revealed.

Bulgarian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vesela Cherneva has stated that Turkey plans to build a thermal power plant on the spot instead. She added that the thermal power plant project was in a very early stage and that Bulgaria will be informed about future developments.

On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also informed a Bulgarian MEP that the rumored nuclear power plant project does not exist.

Last week, it emerged that the municipality of the small Black Sea Turkish town of Igneada has received a letter from the central government in Ankara announcing the upcoming construction of a nuclear power plant and thermal power plant on the spot.

Igneada is a town of some 2 000 inhabitants, located 5 km south of the Rezovska (Rezovo) River, which marks the Bulgarian-Turkish border. The first reports that Turkey was planning to build a nuclear power plant there emerged in 2011.

Back in April 2011, the Turkish Consul in Burgas Sibel Arkan told Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov that Igneada is only the project with the third highest possibility to become Turkey's third NPP and the Turkish government is yet to take a decision on its construction.

In May 2010, Turkey reached an agreement with Russia for the construction of what will become Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Mersin's Akkuyu district. Turkey's second NPP is to be located in Sinop on the Black Sea.

Locals in both Bulgaria and Turkey are said to be alarmed by the reports that a NPP may be built in Igneada.