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 Ankara correspondent Chris Morris"Authorities insist the site is safe"  real 28k |
A government spokesman, Sukru Sina Gurel, said the winning tender for the project at Akkuyu, on the Mediterranean coast, would be announced in about 10 days.
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But opposition to the plan has intensified since a powerful earthquake hit the nearby region of Adana in 1998.
The quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, and killed more than 140 people.
On Tuesday police arrested 30 people as activists staged a lie-down protest in Istanbul, chanting "No to nuclear power plants".
The objectors say that the proposed site is just 25km (15 miles) from a seismic faultline.
But a housing ministry satellite survey map showed the region as one of the least earthquake prone areas in Turkey.
Three bids
The BBC's correspondent in Turkey, Chris Morris, says a majority of local people are against the scheme.
He also says that neighbouring countries, such as Cyprus, will continue to protest.
The Turkish Government has postponed the announcement of the winning tender numerous times since bids were collected in 1997.
Three groups have entered proposals: one led by Westinghouse of the United States, a second by Canada's AECL, and a third by the Franco-German consortium Nuclear Power International.
The state-owned electricity producer, TEAS, will make the final decision on which bid gets the contract.
The idea of constructing a nuclear facility at Akkuyu was first proposed more than 30 years ago.
Energy demand
Turkey's demand for energy is rising rapidly, and a drop in gas supplies from Russia caused widespread power cuts in Ankara in January.
The government has signed long-term contracts for gas imports from Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan, but all depend on new pipelines that may never be built.
Two devastating earthquakes ripped through northwest Turkey last year, killing more than 18,000 people and igniting a refinery blaze which threatened to spread out of control.
Critics argue that building the plant on the coast at Akkuyu could also hurt tourism, an important source of income in the region.
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