Bulgarien: Atomare Störungszonen

Der geplante Bau eines Kernkraftwerks in Bulgarien ruft heftigen Widerstand hervor, aber das scheint die Regierung nicht weiter zu stören. Dies schreibt Petko Kovatchev in Transitions Online.

Bulgaria’s government recently dusted off controversial plans from the 1980s to build a nuclear power plant in Belene, near the border with Romania. A number of Bulgarian and foreign interests have been pushing for the plant over the protests of local citizens and environmentalists. When a prominent opponent of the project received a death threat, the government stunned campaigners by remaining silent, leaving them more convinced than ever that an ill-conceived and unnecessary project is being rushed through at any price. 

The Belene project

Originally conceived in 1980, construction of the Belene plant was cancelled in 1992. Due to tight fiscal constraints, the communist government of the time was forced to declare a moratorium on foreign debt payments, resulting in a drying up of new foreign credits. What proved decisive, however, was the accompanying mass resistance from the inhabitants of Svishtov, a town next to the proposed nuclear site where more than 100 people died in the massive Vrancea earthquake in 1977. “People power” in the form of street demonstrations and the blockade of buses carrying workers had killed a nuclear project; many environmentalists were convinced that the government’s decision indicated the emergence of a new, more sustainable energy policy for Bulgaria. 

Those hopes have now been dashed.

As a result of a decade of governmental mistakes, intense lobbying from the Bulgarian energy sector, and interventions from international corporate interests, the current Bulgarian government decided in 2003 to resurrect the construction of at least two of the reactors from the originally planned six units at Belene. 

The project received some encouragement from the European Commission. Loyola de Palacio, the pro-nuclear energy commissioner at the time, toured the plant’s construction site in July 2004 and offered potential financial support for its completion. The Bulgarians are angling for over 300 million euros in funding backed by the European Union; it will be decided later this year whether the selected reactor type qualifies for an EU loan.

The government’s active promotion of Belene comes in the wake of the closure of four nuclear units at another Bulgarian nuclear installation at Kozloduy. The closure aroused concern over Bulgaria’s weakness in the face of international pressure, a feeling that is now being exploited by the government in the run-up to a general election this June.

Two units at Kozloduy closed in 2002 and units 3 and 4 are due to close in 2006 as a condition of Bulgaria’s entry into the EU. Units 5 and 6 at Kozloduy are not, however, subject to these EU stipulations. 

Bulgaria already has production overcapacities that will be increased with the construction of the Belene plant even if units 3 and 4 at Kozloduy do in fact shut down. This excess power will be exported to other countries in the Balkan region and to Italy and help to repay the construction loans. 

But Bulgaria has one of the most energy-inefficient economies in Europe. The development of further electricity-generating capacity will hamper the development of energy efficiency and renewable technologies as the Belene construction absorbs scarce investment in the energy sector. In other countries, the import of subsidized nuclear electricity may decrease energy prices and therefore incentives for energy efficiency and renewable energy. 

Opponents also question the wisdom of locating a nuclear plant in a highly seismic area. This is something that especially worries the local population. The inhabitants of Svishtov are now being assailed by well-paid experts assuring them that there is no seismic risk attached to the project.

To read the article in full, visit the Transitions Online website.