May 3, 2013 - 20:53 AMT
Japan PM promises ‘highest level of safety’ for Turkish nuke reactor

Japan's Prime Minister says his country has learned lessons from the Fukushima disaster and will offer the "highest level of safety" in building Turkey's second nuclear plant, The Associated Press reported.

Turkey chose a Japanese-French consortium for the construction of a nuclear reactor on Turkey's Black Sea coast. An agreement was signed during Shinzo Abe's visit to Ankara on Friday, May 3.

Abe, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters: "We have carried our experience in nuclear security to the highest level through lessons learned from past accidents and risks."

Turkey's Energy Ministry said the country will begin negotiations with Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and France's Areva. The 5,000-megawatt capacity plant is expected to cost $22 billion and be operational in 2023.

Russia is constructing Turkey's first plant in Akkuyu, which will begin test production in 2019.