Kyiv, Ukraine, 5 October 2005 — Today environmental activists held an action “NO to new reactors, YES to energy conservation!” near the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in Kiev. Representatives of the Ukrainian NGOs Bakhmat, Ecoclub, Green World, MAMA-86, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and Voice of Nature were protesting against the Ukrainian government’s plans to build another 11 nuclear reactors in Ukraine by 2030. The plans were announced in May 2005 and later confirmed at parliamentary hearings on the development of Ukraine’s energy sector.
Environmentalists believe that energy conservation has enormous potential to improve the energy situation in Ukraine. Huge energy losses in industrial and municipal enterprises lead to the over-consumption of natural gas, oil, coal and electricity. The energy intensity of Ukrainian GDP is 2 to 4 times higher than in other European countries. Losses of water in the water supply and district heating equate to 30 to 60 percent.
“We are not calling for the immediate closure of nuclear power plants in Ukraine but we do oppose new construction and life extensions,” said Yevgeny Kolishevsky, executive director of the Voice of Nature NGO. “We strongly demand that the new Government of Ukraine includes a set of concrete measures aimed at increasing energy efficiency in all sectors of the Ukrainian economy into the Program of Energy Sector Development of Ukraine for the period running to 2030.”
Yury Urbansky, from the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and CEE Bankwatch Network, said, “We have serious concerns about the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. The implementation of the state program of a safety upgrade for existing reactors has failed, the Parliament ratified loans provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Euroatom for the modernisation of the Khmelnitsky-2 and Rivne-4 reactors commissioned in 2004 with a one year delay, problems connected with radioactive waste management continue to go unsolved and there are no signs for progress in the near future. A government ignorant of the issues of nuclear safety has no right to even think about plans for nuclear expansion!”
At today’s Kiev demo, environmental activists hanged a large banner saying “NO new reactors!” The action was accompanied by a drum-roll on barrels resembling containers with radioactive waste, aimed at reminding officials of the need to listen to public opinion. The participants held posters with slogans: “Nuclear energy? No, thanks!”, “New reactors threat to the economy and the environment!”, “Dniprodzerzhynsk 42 million tons of liquid nuclear waste in 100 metres near Dnepr river!”, “Finance energy efficiency instead of nuclear absurdity!”, “Energy conservation is the source of energy!”
The NGOs challenged the newly appointed government with questions such as:
· Why is the government deciding to build new reactors without proper public discussion?
· When will a thorough assessment of energy losses in Ukraine’s industrial and municipal sectors be conducted, followed up by measures for decreasing the huge losses of heat, water and electricity?
· When will the people of Ukraine stop paying for bad management in the municipal sector?
· When will the development of renewable sources of energy get real backing from the state?
· When will the government cease using public money to subsidise nuclear energy?
For more information and photos from action, contact:
Natasha Vyshnevska, the Voice of Nature, +380 50 5455928, nvishnevskaya@ukr.net
Yury Urbansky, National Ecological Centre of Ukraine and CEE Bankwatch Network, +380 50 5123222, urbik@bankwatch.org