ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS: DELAY IN CHOICE BELENE BUILDER SHOWS NUCLEAR IS TOO EXPENSIVE Greenpeace: The Emperor has no clothes! Bankwatch: Pressure of Minister is symptom for low nuclear safety culture
Sofia, 18 July 2006 - Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Ovcharov today announced in a press conference that Bulgaria has to postpone the choice of a builder for the planned Belene Nuclear Power Station further. This decision came already two months after the original planned date in May. The Minister expected at least another month of negotiations to "improve the financial side of the offers" and reduce building time. The bids from the two contenders for this nuclear power station, the Czech / Russian consortium Skoda Alliance and the Russian / French / German consortium Atomstroyexport, were not satisfying, according to the tender commission. The BeleNE! coalition, uniting environmental organisations in Bulgaria, and the international organisations Bankwatch and Greenpeace stated that the current delay in tendering shows that the Belene project is not economical. Petko Kovachev, Bulgarian energy coordinator for CEE Bankwatch network comments: "The pressure on price and building time from Minister Ovcharov has direct consequences for nuclear safety. There is evidence that the already existing construction work in Belene was not done in the quality required. A future builder must make additional quality investigations into the work done on the first reactor back in the 1980s. If Atomstroyeksport or Skoda Alliance agrees to build Belene within the proposed shorter time schedule this will inevitably lead to pressure on such quality checks. One of the basic premises of good safety culture is that safety may never be sacrificed for short term economic reasons. It looks very much like it that that is exactly what Minister Ovcharov is doing here." Kovachev added that in case constructors and owners of a nuclear power station would be liable for all damages in case of a large accident, neither the Minister nor the bidding consortia would ever take the risk that Ovcharov is taking now. "Unfortunately liability is limited under the Vienna Convention on on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage," he concluded. Jan Haverkamp, energy expert for Central Europe for the organisation Greenpeace: "It is time to make clear to the Bulgarian people: the Emperor has no Clothes! Today shows once more that it is not possible to build in Belene a safe and cheap nuclear power station. Instead of selling empty nuclear promises, the Minister should ask his department to work out a sensible energy strategy for Bulgaria, based on energy efficiency, the development of renewable sources and decentralisation." FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace, mobile: +359.888 311 690 (until 23 July), +420 603 569 243 (after 23 July), e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jan Haverkamp is until 21 July in Sofia available for interviews. Petko Kovachev, CEE Bankwatch / BeleNE! coalition, mobile: +359.888 420 453, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/Kv0qlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> http://www.nuclearinfo.ro Va e mai usor sa unsubscribeti de pe acest grup decat sa scapati de efectele unui prost management in domeniul nuclear!:-) Pentru legislatie si alte informatii utile, vizitati site-ul Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nuclear-Romania/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
