[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dear all,
Next Tuesday, 5th of June, in cities all over Europe there are
demonstrations being held at offices of the French bank BNP Paribas.
BNP Paribas is the only private bank in Europe that is funding Belene, a
dangerous nuclear power plant to be built in Bulgaria. On Tuesday, UN World
Environmental Day, people are protesting at BNP Paribas offices to show
their concern about funding this potential nuclear disaster.
The Belene Nuclear Power Plant is situated in an area in Bulgaria at high
risk of earthquakes. The project was abandoned in the 1990s following a
scientific assessment that warned that the area was not suitable for a
nuclear reactor. However, the Bulgarian government reversed its decision and
in 2003 announced they would restart the project.
The reactors planned are of a Russian design which has not been through full
safety testing and has never before been built in Europe.
Eleven other international banks have refused to finance the project. On 14
May 2007, BNP Paribas won the tender for a 250 million Euro loan to finance
the first year of planning and construction of Belene.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Attached is a letter to the management of BNP Paribas. You can copy it in a
new email message and express your concern to the management as well
For more information see
http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2007/Belene.chronology.pdf
and
http://www.bluelink.net/belene/index-en.shtml
=== addresses ==
* Michel Pébereau , Président of BNP-Pariba,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* M. Baudouin Prot, Director of BNP-Paribas,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* MM. Jean Favarel, Sustainable Development Department,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* Marc Dumoulin, Sustainable Development Department,
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Don't forget to sign the letter!
=== letter ===
Subject : BNP Paribas : say no to Belene nuclear power plant Bulgaria
Dear Sir
It is with great concern that I have learned that your bank intends to
finance the first phase of construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant
(NPP) in Bulgaria. The irresponsible financing of this dangerous nuclear
project is not only a financial risk to your shareholders and customers, but
also a safety risk to all Europeans.
The Belene project is one of the worst cases of nuclear power planning over
the last decades. The proposed NPP is to be sited in an earthquake region,
where in only 14 km distance 120 people died in an earthquake in 1977. The
Environmental Impact Assessment of the project is strongly flawed and fails
to address many relevant issues, including the seismic risks. The proposed
reactor design has not been licensed before in Europe and in its proposed
form is a first-of-its-kind. This brings not only extra safety risks, it
also brings huge financial risks for investors as it is extremely unlikely
that the power station will be finished in time, and within the proposed
budget.
It is also clear, that this reactor type would never be able to get an
operation licence in France or any other Western European country BNP
Paribas would therefore be applying double standards if it finances a
project, which does not meet the safety standards required in its home
country. Worrying is also the fact that you are willing to finance such a
risky project in a country, which has had an extremely bad nuclear track
record over the past decade. By way of illustration: only one year ago, the
Bulgarian authorities tried to silence an INES 2 incident in the Kozloduy
nuclear power station that was described by experts as driving on a highway
full speed without brakes.
As a supposed advocate of sustainability, BNP Paribas should be aware that
Bulgaria is the most wasteful country in Europe, when energy is concerned
and that the Bulgarian government never took a serious look at alternatives
to Belene. We would therefore gladly support investments of your bank in
energy efficiency there. Also the development of renewable energy sources in
Bulgaria has not received much attention and would be a possibility for
investment.
Ten banks already withdrew from the project or indicated they would heavily
scrutinize it under strict conditions, because it was developed in a corrupt
environment, it is a technological and safety risk, it is environmentally
unsound, and certainly not the most cost-efficient solution for the problems
it is supposed to address. Amongst these banks were well known names like
Société Génerale, KBC, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and Credit
Suisse.
For all the reasons stated above I ask you to reconsider your intention to
finance the Belene NPP. BNP Paribas should not forget, that in its main
markets, nuclear power is the most unpopular form of energy production. An
investment into the controversial Belene project will have repercussions for
your reputation, your customer base and your standing with institutional
investors, environmental rating agencies and SRI fund managers.
Sincerely yours,
Subject : BNP
