Bulgarian nuclear power station gets siting permit in earthquake zone

The Bulgarian Nuclear Regulator today issued a siting permit for the planned Belene Nuclear Power Station. This happened, although no valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) exists. One of the challenges in court against the EIA report is that the NPP is planned in a zone where in 1977 on 14 kilometers 120 people died during a heavy earthquake.

The permit was given only 10 days before Bulgaria is to enter the European Union and to close down two outdated blocks of the Kozloduy nuclear power station 150 km stream upwards from Belene on the Danube.

Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace expert for nuclear issues in Central Europe, comments: "This permit shows that the Bulgarian authorities do not take their own procedures seriously. We are with a group of Bulgarian citizens and organisations currently in court amongst others because the Bulgarian government tried to deny that Belene is situated in an earthquake zone." Petko Kovachev of the watchdog organisation Bankwatch adds: "This move so close before EU entry is simply embarrassing. A proper EU state should not circumvent its own court procedures."

In Belene in North Bulgaria a Russian design nuclear power plant is planned with two 1000 Megawatt blocks. Opponents of the project point out that Bulgaria has many clean alternatives for this over 4 Billion Euro project, not in the least because Bulgaria is the most energy wasting country in Europe.

Greenpeace, Bankwatch and the Bulgarian coalition NO! to Belene prepare legal steps against the siting permit.

For more information contact:

Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace consultant for energy issues in Central Europe
Petko Kovachev, CEE Bankwatch network

Additional notes

The Belene Nuclear Power Plant project originates in the early 1980s when Bulgaria still had a communist regime. In 1992 the project was stopped for economical and environmental reasons. One of the more important reasons then was a study by the Bulgarian Academy of Science, which, amongst others, argued that Belene is situated in a seismic active area. In 2003 the Bulgarian government revived the project. Last October it chose a prospected design and builder. The Russian company Atomstroyexport is to build an AES-92 nuclear power station with two VVER 1000/B466 reactors. There is currently only one of such nuclear power stations under construction in India.