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Belarusian, Russian environmentalists express concern about "contract agreement" for Belarus` nuclear power plant project

Belarusian and Russian environmental activists have expressed concern about a "contract agreement" on the construction of the first two units of a nuclear power plant in Belarus that was signed with Russia on October 11.

In an appeal issued on Wednesday, the environmentalists denounced the deal as dubious and non-transparent.

“It was struck without regard to the opinion of the public and in violation of applicable regulations to cater for the interests of a narrow circle of people occupying positions in the government and directly in state-controlled corporation Rosatom,” they said.

They reiterated concern about the nuclear power plant project itself, saying that it did not comply with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)`s Aarhus Convention on public participation in environmental decision-making or the UNECE Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context. Earlier this year, the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention established that the Belarusian government had failed to promptly and properly inform the public about its nuclear plans or take public opinion into consideration while deciding on the location of the nuclear plant and other issues, they said.

The environmentalists warned that the Belarusian population had already been affected seriously by the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

The appeal to Russia’s finance and foreign ministries, Russia`s Atomstroiexport (the prime contractor in the project), and the Directorate for the Construction of a Nuclear Power Plant was signed by more than 50 activists of various environmental groups, including Belarus’ Ecodom, the Belarusian Party of the Greens and the Movement of Scientists for Nuclear-free Belarus. //BelaPAN