New Documents
[Article] Background to the Belene action alert
(November 12, 2007)
Read a comprehensive media article - “Nuclear fault line” - on the Belene project, written by Bankwatch’s Bulgarian coordinator who has followed the bizarre comings and goings in the Bulgarian nuclear sector for more than a decade.
A new wave of dangerous nuclear power projects are threatening to come on line in Eastern Europe. Many of these nuclear plants were planned or even partially constructed during Soviet times, and are now being put back on the agenda. Belene is only the first of many new projects which will be examined by the European Commission. Other nuclear plants in the pipeline are for example Mochovce 3 and 4 in Slovakia, which is based on a completely outdated design and lacks containment, and the Cernavoda 3 and 4 plant in Romania which would also be built in an earthquake area.
The Commission is expected to issue an official opinion on Belene in early December and if the opinion is positive, then Bulgaria can apply to Euratom and the European Investment Bank for financial support. The two nuclear reactors planned in Belene would be the first new Russian reactors to be erected within the European Union. Thus, the decision of the EU in this case has special significance. If the Commission gives a positive safety assessment for Belene, the impacts of such a decision go far beyond Bulgaria. It would more or less give a green light to the Russian nuclear industry to push ahead their plans for similar reactors in Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary. All of this will make Europe a much unsafer place.
It’s therefore all the more important that European citizens give the Commissioners a wake-up call. We need to let them know that we are tired of seeing the Commission come out with pro-nuclear statements that ignore the concerns and the sentiments of the majority of Europe’s citizens.
Even the Commission’s own surveys come to the conclusion that most Europeans see nuclear power plants as a threat to their own safety and the safety of their families.
Please support this campaign in any way that you can.
Send an email to the Commissioners.
Get your friends, neighbours and colleagues to send emails.
We have exactly THREE WEEKS time to make sure that our voices are heard!
A new wave of dangerous nuclear power projects are threatening to come on line in Eastern Europe. Many of these nuclear plants were planned or even partially constructed during Soviet times, and are now being put back on the agenda. Belene is only the first of many new projects which will be examined by the European Commission. Other nuclear plants in the pipeline are for example Mochovce 3 and 4 in Slovakia, which is based on a completely outdated design and lacks containment, and the Cernavoda 3 and 4 plant in Romania which would also be built in an earthquake area.
The Commission is expected to issue an official opinion on Belene in early December and if the opinion is positive, then Bulgaria can apply to Euratom and the European Investment Bank for financial support. The two nuclear reactors planned in Belene would be the first new Russian reactors to be erected within the European Union. Thus, the decision of the EU in this case has special significance. If the Commission gives a positive safety assessment for Belene, the impacts of such a decision go far beyond Bulgaria. It would more or less give a green light to the Russian nuclear industry to push ahead their plans for similar reactors in Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary. All of this will make Europe a much unsafer place.
It’s therefore all the more important that European citizens give the Commissioners a wake-up call. We need to let them know that we are tired of seeing the Commission come out with pro-nuclear statements that ignore the concerns and the sentiments of the majority of Europe’s citizens.
Even the Commission’s own surveys come to the conclusion that most Europeans see nuclear power plants as a threat to their own safety and the safety of their families.
Please support this campaign in any way that you can.
Send an email to the Commissioners.
Get your friends, neighbours and colleagues to send emails.
We have exactly THREE WEEKS time to make sure that our voices are heard!
CEE Bankwatch Network gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.