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EU-geld voor "nieuwe Tsjernobyl" WISE Amsterdam - 23.01.2003 14:16
De Europese Commissie heeft geld aan Rusland aangeboden om Kursk-5, een gedeeltelijk gebouwd reactor van hetzelfde ontwerp als Tsjernobyl, te voltooien. FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE PRESS RELEASE 23 January 2003 EUROPEAN UNION OFFERS HELP TO BUILD ANOTHER CHERNOBYL The European Commission is in discussions with Russia to provide financial help for the completion of a nuclear reactor of the same type that caused the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, according to a document obtained this week by Friends of the Earth. (1) The unfinished Kursk-5 reactor, situated 300km south of Moscow, has been listed for possible funding under the Euratom Loans scheme, which the European Commission is proposing to significantly expand. Kursk-5 is a 1000-megawatt ‘RMBK’ type reactor, one of the first generation of Soviet-designed stations. Construction began in December 1985 - just five months before the world’s worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl in neighbouring Ukraine - but work was later suspended due to a lack of funds. Kursk-5 is the only ‘RMBK’ plant anywhere in the world still to be completed. The Euratom Loans scheme, introduced in 1977 to further promote nuclear power in line with the Euratom Treaty, allows the European Commission to facilitate loans for the development of nuclear projects, subject to Member States agreeing an overall limit. In November last year, the Commission proposed increasing this ‘ceiling’ for Euratom loans from €4000M to €6000M, although they did not specify publicly what projects the additional funds would be spent on. Friends of the Earth Europe’s Nuclear Campaigner, Mark Johnston said: “EU support for building dangerous reactors is wrong and should stop. It is crazy to increase the risk of another disaster by aiding a new power plant that is the same type as Chernobyl. “This scandal casts grave doubt over the credibility of the Commission’s claim to be acting in the interests of atomic safety. It is becoming clear that the real motive is more sinister, to save a dying nuclear industry at any cost. The Commission cannot be trusted with nuclear safety when it also retains a duty to promote nuclear. “Euratom loans and the Euratom Treaty itself are out of date, biased and undemocratic. They should both be scrapped. Friends of the Earth is calling the European Convention to support abolition of Euratom under the new EU constitution.” ENDS Contact: Mark Johnston, FoE Europe Nuclear Campaigner: +4479 7331 9249 (London) Further information is available from: http://www.foeeurope.org/activities/Nuclear/nuclear.htm (1) The document is a so-called “Non-paper” that was distributed by the Commission to Member States following questioning at a meeting on the 10 December 2002 regarding the proposal to increase the Euratom ceiling from €4000M to €6000M. The document is available on request. The decision on increasing the loans ceiling is due to be considered by the Council of Ministers (ECOFIN) in the near future. Website: http://www.antenna.nl/wise |
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