Fears for safety of power plant adds to EU’s nuclear headache

Date: 30/11/1995

By Emily Von Sydow

EU concern is mounting over the safety of nuclear plants in Eastern Europe, with Bulgaria's refusal to shut down a unit deemed highly dangerous prompting the greatest anxiety.

International experts say the Kozloduy nuclear plant should be closed, but Bulgarian authorities insist there is no need for concern. In October, Bulgaria's Committee for Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy declared the plant safe.

Bulgaria, unlike other Central and Eastern European countries, suffers from a lack of electrical power and would face a serious energy crisis if the plant were shut down. The search is now on for alternative sources, but it will be hard to find any as immediate neighbours - the former Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece - have no surplus electricity.

The only solution now seems to be to create a link with Hungary, which has facilities for transporting electrical power from the west to Bulgaria.

The G7 group on nuclear security met in Vienna this week to discuss the situation at the Bulgarian plant and EU foreign ministers are likely to voice their concerns at a meeting next week.

But Kozloduy is not the only nuclear headache for the EU in Eastern Europe. There are 25 reactors of the old Soviet type which lack the double security system standard in western power plants. This means that if there is a failure, there is no safety net.

The situation in the Slovak republic is also causing grave concern. This spring the Slovaks were offered a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) loan to finance the rebuilding of a reactor in Mohovdje using western techniques. Tough security conditions were attached to the loan, including a requirement that one unit of the Mohovdje plant be shut down. The Slovak authorities refused to accept this and turned instead to the Russians, who eventually provided both the loan and the technical know-how.

Between 1991 and 1994, 100 million ecu was spent on nuclear security under the Phare programme. But Phare funding for nuclear energy in Bulgaria, totalling seven million ecu this year, has been frozen because of its failure to agree on a programme with the EU.

Although the European Commission uses strong language to warn of the dangers of the techniques used at the Bulgarian and Slovak plants, it acknowledges these countries' need for electricity and is anxious not to block political dialogue between the EU and possible future members of the Union. There is also concern that the alternatives to nuclear power would cause even more pollution problems. The Commission has warned that without nuclear power, Europe could not reach its targets for lowering CO2 emissions.