Do Europeans Want a New Nuclear Power Plant in an Earthquake Area?

Tell the Commission No ! Write a Protest Email Now !

In early December, the European Commission will issue an official opinion on the Bulgarian Government's plan to build a nuclear power plant (NPP) near the town of Belene in northern Bulgaria. The Belene Project was planned in the early 1980s and from the start it was controversial, because the nuclear plant will be situated in an earthquake area. During the last large earthquake, over 120 people died only 14 kilometres from the Belene site. As early as 1984, Soviet scientists therefore warned against erecting a nuclear plant at this location and in the 1990s the plan was scrapped.

The Bulgarian Government has, however, revived this hare-brained scheme and is now looking to the European Commission to provide financial support for it. The nuclear reactors planned in Belene are of a type that have never been built anywhere else and would be the first new Russian reactors to be erected within the EU. The first step in this process is an official assessment of the project by the European Commission. If the Commission gives a green light, Belene is then eligible for loans from Euratom and the European Investment Bank, institutions that are funded by taxpayers from throughout Europe.

Unfortunately, that's what is about to happen, the Commission is poised to give its approval to this nightmare NPP. We therefore ask you to send an email to the Commission today. Tell them that building a nuclear power plant close to a seismic fault is a recipe for disaster. Tell them that European citizens don't want to see their money going to a project that increases the likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe in Europe. Tell them to start listening to the citizens they represent. Let the Commission know that our opinion on Belene and other nuclear power plants is: NO!

The email addresses of Mr. Barroso and Mr. Piebalgs are:

sg-web-president@ec.europa.eu
andris.piebalgs@ec.europa.eu


Dear Mr. Barroso,
Dear Mr. Piebalgs

I am writing to you out of concern about the European Commission's impending decision on the Belene nuclear power project.

The plan to build a nuclear power plant (NPP) near the town of Belene in northern Bulgaria goes back to the early 1980s. Even then, Soviet scientists warned that this site is seismically active and thus unsuited for a nuclear power station. During the last large earthquake in the region, over 120 people died just 14 kilometres from the planned NPP site. In the early 1990s, Belene was scrapped and the first democratically elected Government in Bulgaria determined the project to be "technically unsafe and economically unviable". This was shortly after the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences issued a 421-page study, which came to a negative assessment of the project and specifically warned against the seismic risks of this location.
Many private banks have also come to a negative assessment of the Belene project. Last year banks from Italy, the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany all turned down financial applications for the Belene project. Several of the banks cited public concern about the earthquake risks as a decisive factor in their decision.

I am therefore all the more surprised to hear that the European Commission is poised to deliver a positive opinion on the proposed Belene NPP. A positive assessment from the Commission would enable Bulgaria to apply for loans for Belene from public institutions, such as Euratom and the European Investment Bank.

If the Commission wants to secure the health and safety of European citizens, it should not issue a positive opinion on a project, which soviet scientists, former Bulgarian governments and numerous commercial banks all assessed as negative. European taxpayers' money must not be used for a project that will put millions of people at risk.
My personal plea to you and the other Commissioners is: Use common sense. Don't play Russian roulette. Don't approve the construction of nuclear reactors in an earthquake zone!

I would be pleased to receive a direct reply to this email.

Respectfully,

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Background:

A new wave of dangerous nuclear power projects are threatening to come up 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 NPPs in the pipeline are for example Mochovce 3 and 4 in Slovakia, which is based on a completely outdated design and lacks a 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 polls 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 3 weeks time to make sure that our voices are heard!

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Regine Richter
urgewald Büro Berlin
Prenzlauer Allee 230
10405 Berlin

Fon: 49+30+44339169
Fax: 49+30+44339133
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