Tokyo Electric Power Co said it would not be involved in a planned nuclear power plant project in Turkey because it is focusing on overhauling its operations in the wake of the disaster at its tsunami-crippled Fukushima atomic station.
The company, also known as Tepco, had previously said it would join the project to build a second nuclear plant in Turkey on the Black Sea coast if industrial conglomerate Toshiba , which has been in talks with Turkey, asks for its help.
"We plan to withdraw from operations except for those that are essential to the power business," a Tepco spokesman said on Thursday. "We will not be involved in Turkey."
Turkey may end priority negotiations with Japan on building the plant by the end of this month, a move that could lead to competition for the project with other nations including France and South Korea, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Turkey and Japan reached a basic agreement in December to build the plant and had aimed to conclude the deal within three months. But the talks were delayed after Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March crippled Tepco's Fukushima plant and caused a radiation crisis.
The spokesman said, however, that Tepco would be involved in Japan's project to win a nuclear plant order from Vietnam.
A consortium of Japanese utilities and nuclear power developers including Tepco set up a venture in October, aiming to win nuclear plant orders from overseas, including Vietnam.
The group includes Japan's top three utilities Tepco, Chubu Electric Power Co and Kansai Electric Power Co , along with Toshiba, Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries .
