Russian-style nuclear plants imperil Bulgaria

A report by Russian scientists currently under discussion in the Russian State Council underscores the grave inadequacies of earthquake protection measures in Russian nuclear power plants. Edvin Sugarev voices concern in the daily Svobodata since Bulgaria is going ahead with the construction of a Russian-type nuclear plant in an earthquake zone near the town of Belene on the Danube: "The risks inherent in building a second nuclear plant in Belene were recognised as early as 1991 by experts of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and played a large part in having the project put on ice. ... The fact that the nuclear power plant will now be built on this very spot despite the risks is cynical, to put it mildly. One need only think of the 1977 earthquake in the city of Svishtov just a few kilometres away, which toppled a nine-story apartment building and claimed hundreds of lives. ... But people like [energy oligarch] Manchev and the KGB insiders couldn't care less about such concerns. Bulgaria's energy sector is so firmly under their control that no government has been able to have a say on it in the entire transition period."

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