Given the European Commission’s nod of approval to begin construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) at Belene in northern Bulgaria at the end of 2008, Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Sofia on January 18 to sign an agreement on facility construction. The Putin visit, however, provoked mass demonstrations organised by numerous Bulgarian environmental NGOs strongly opposed to the energy package. Located on the bank of the Danube River, the Belene construction site is hugely controversial because of risks from documented seismic activity.

Photo: Belene.bluelink.net

The European Commission (EC) officially approved the Belene project in December 2007, grounding its decision on project compliance with Euratom Treaty objectives. Euratom is one of the EC’s founding documents, and has been in force without a single revision since 1958. “Belene is not needed for Bulgarian energy demands,” said Petko Kovatchev of the Green Policy Institute in Sofia, speaking on behalf of the BeleNE campaign. “There are many alternatives. Belene will only create dependency on Russia, and that is exactly why the Russian president [is pushing] the project so aggressively.” Some comments published online by Bulgarian daily Dnevnik allege that momentum for the Belene project is largely a political reaction following the partial closure of Bulgaria’s Kozludui NPP, which also operates with Atomstroyexport reactors.

The Kozludui shutdown iswidely perceived as having been forced on Bulgaria as a prerequisite for EU membership; thus many people believe that the Belene project is compensation to theNEK(Bulgaria’s national electricity company). According to terms of the Belene agreement, the main contractor is Russian stateowned Atomstroyexport, the firm responsible for building Slovakia’s Bohunice NPP, Hungary’s PaksNPP and the KukovanyNPP in the Czech Republic.

The primary subcontractors will likely be France’s Areva and Germany’s Siemens. Construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2008, while the estimated project cost is EUR 4 billion. If all goes according to plan, Belene NPP, equipped with two 1,000-megawatt reactors, will start operating in 2014. The 22,000-hectare Persina Nature Park includes the Belene island chain, and is Bulgaria’s only such reserve situated along theDanube. Persina contains several important ecosystems and a unique variety of flora and fauna. The park also serves to protect the river habitat’s bird species, which are diminishing in number.