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Japan says it has learned from Fukushima, vows 'high safety' levels for Turkish reactor

Associated Press
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after they signed agreements in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, May 3, 2013.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) (The Associated Press)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after they signed agreements in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, May 3, 2013.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) (The Associated Press)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, follows a Turkish honor guard during his visit to the mausoleum of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici) (The Associated Press)

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.

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.

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.