President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed
Wednesday to press on with plans for
Russia
to
build
Turkey
's
first nuclear power plant despite the Japanese nuclear accident.
"The project in
Turkey
is
different from the stations in
Japan
--in
terms of age and the level of protection," Medvedev said after talks with
the visiting Turkish prime minister. "Even after what happened in
Japan
there
will be no radical review of security measures as they are already sufficient.
"I am sure this will be a good project and is very interesting from an
economic point of view," Medvedev said.
Russia
and
Turkey
signed
a $20 billion agreement last May for the construction of the first Turkish
nuclear power plant in Akkuyu in the south of the country.
Russia
is
undertaking a review of its nuclear power operations after the
Fukushima
nuclear plant was damaged by
Japan
's
earthquake, but atomic energy is expected to remain a major industry for the
country.
Erdogan said the Akkuyu nuclear power station that
Russia
will
help build and operate "will be an example for the rest of the world.
"Earthquakes are possible everywhere and our country is on a seismically
dangerous territory. But we understand the ways to secure the objects that we
are building," he said. "And this nuclear power station will be able
to withstand a 8-9 earthquake. We cannot renounce joint projects because of earthquakes."