Japan to build $22-bn nuclear plant in Turkey

Japan has won a major contract to construct a $22-billion nuclear facility in Turkey, a landmark deal for the Asian powerhouse as it recovers from one of the world's worst ever nuclear disasters in Fukushima two years ago.

The agreement was reached over the weekend at the Turkish capital Ankara between the visiting Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

For Japan, this was the first successful nuclear deal overseas after the 2011 catastrophe that devastated a series of nuclear installations at its Fukushima power plant following an earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku region.

The deal come just a day after the Japanese prime minister signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates, marking a victory for his efforts to export Japanese nuclear technology in the wake of the disaster.

Under the deal, a consortium led by Japanese engineering and equipment giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and French nuclear energy firm Areva SA will effectively build the nuclear power plant in Sinop on Turkey's Black Sea coast. Other firms expected to be involved in the construction include Japan's Itochu Corp, French utility group GDF Suez, and a Turkish firm.

The proposed plant will have four nuclear reactors with a total output of around 4,800 megawatts. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2017 and the first reactor is expected to go on stream by 2023.

"We hope to share our experience and lessons learned from a severe accident, making it Japan's responsibility to contribute to improvements in nuclear power safety," Abe said at a news conference after the signing of the deal.

"What happened at Fukushima upset all of us. But these things can happen. Life goes on. Successful steps are being taken now with the use of improved technology," the Turkish prime minister said.

The prime ministers signed a joint statement upgrading their bilateral ties to a ''strategic partnership'' and vowed to cooperate in other areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture and satellite launching.

Japan's main rivals in the bid included firms from China, Canada and South Korea. However, The Japanese-French consortium won the contract mainly on the grounds of advanced technology, reliability and cost.

Like Japan, Turkey is one of the world's most active earthquake regions and the government cited Japan's expertise in earthquake protection as one of the factors in signing the deal.

Turkey, which largely depends on imported oil and gas for its energy needs, has plans to build three nuclear power plants to increase its self reliance. Work on the first one at Akkuyu in southern Turkey has commenced in cooperation with Russia's Rosatom, and the government is working on the plans for a third nuclear plant as well.

Abe and Erdogan also signed an agreement covering the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Abe's visit comes seven years after Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizmi visited Turkey in 2006.