Turkey to ease dependence on gas

Turkey opened a bid Monday for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, part of a plan to reduce the country's dependence on gas supplies from Iran and Russia. Turkey's electricity agency said in a written announcement that bids will be accepted until Sept. 24 for the planned plant in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin. The government assured potential investors that it would buy all the electricity produced by the plant for its first 15 years.

The plant is the first of three that the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to build by 2015 to meet the country's growing energy needs. Turkey has limited energy resources, relying on natural gas supplies from neighbors Iran and Russia.

Energy Minister Hilmi Guler has said that nuclear power is one of the best options Turkey has for increasing its energy security, and that nuclear power should supply 20 percent of the nation's needs within two decades.

Environmentalists have criticized the plan, raising security concerns and warning that the site is in an earthquake-prone area. Guler has said concerns over both issues would be taken into consideration in the plant's construction.

The Associated Press