Nuclear power plants in Central and Eastern Europe[1]
OPINION
Doc. 6746
21 January 1993
Rapporteur: Mr PAPADOGONAS, Greece, New Democracy
1. Since the Chernobyl accident, the European public has become particularly sensitive to the potential threat of nuclear power stations operating in East European countries. This situation contrasts with that in countries where, as Mr Bassinet points out in his report (Doc. 6736), the population is relatively indifferent to the risks created by the utilisation of nuclear energy.
2. The first problem we must deal with then is a political one, on which the whole issue depends. It will not be enough to try to impress on the governments of these countries the need to improve operating conditions or to shut down power plants for safety reasons until they are subjected to public pressure, as in Western countries, for increasing transparency in all areas involving nuclear energy.
3. It is certainly desirable that the debate which has been proceeding over the past two decades in the most highly industrialised European countries on the pros and cons of nuclear energy should also extend to East European countries. Until such times as this debate is initiated, their authorities, faced as they are with immense economic and political problems, are liable to accord low priority to atomic energy problems - despite the efforts of Western countries and international organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
4. The action proposed by the Rapporteur of the Committee on Science and Technology, which merits the Assembly's full support, must be accompanied by a whole series of political measures to secure greater involvement on the part of the public and its representatives, that is to say the parliaments, in the discussion of future nuclear programmes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
5. By this means it will be possible to avoid certain errors committed in the industrialised countries of Western Europe, where for many years the secrecy surrounding the utilisation of nuclear energy has been all but impregnable. Experience shows that experts' recommendations often fail to take due account of the interests of the whole of society.
6. It therefore seems necessary to set up machinery for parliamentary supervision of nuclear energy management in countries of Central and Eastern Europe still without this facility. Here again the executive must be accountable to parliament for its decisions and democratically submit to supervision by the elected representatives.
7. Such parliamentary supervision must be accompanied by total transparency, providing for public awareness of the governments' energy policy decisions. The authorities must accordingly undertake public education campaigns on the utilisation of nuclear energy. Such campaigns must begin in schools and continue in the media, in order to alert the whole population to the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy. This also involves the provision of fuller information on plans drawn up to tackle emergency situations in the wake of accidents.
8. On the basis of improved understanding of the problem and with the support of their respective populations, the parliaments and governments of these countries will thus be able to bridge the remaining legislative and statutory gaps in the field of nuclear energy utilisation.
9. One particularly acute problem connected with the use of nuclear power plants is waste processing. The information available suggests that for many years the authorities involved failed to pay due attention to the disposal of nuclear waste. The disastrous consequences of this failure for the environment and the general public are now common knowledge.
10. Over the last few months a new danger has surfaced, namely illegal trafficking in nuclear products from Central and East European countries. It would appear that the links in some countries between the civil and military nuclear industries, have made it possible to divert products such as enriched uranium and plutonium from their intended use and sell them to Third World countries anxious to build up a nuclear arsenal. In my view, such criminal practices affect the whole international community, and consequently everything must be done to help the authorities of Central and East European countries to clamp down on them.
11. Lastly, it must be remembered that Soviet-designed power stations also exist and operate in countries outside Europe. They present the same risks for the populations and the environment as do those currently operating in East European countries. We must accordingly support the initiative launched in September 1991 by the International Conference on Nuclear Safety calling on the IAEA to examine the operation of such power stations and put forward the requisite recommendations for the elaboration of improvement programmes.
Reporting committee: Committee on Science and Technology (Doc. 6736).
Committee for opinion: Political Affairs Committee.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6563, Reference No. 1769 of 7 February 1992.
Draft opinion: approved by the committee on 15 December 1992.
Secretaries to the committee: MM. Sorinas and Kleijssen.
[1] See Doc. 6736.