Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant CIA Files - Paperless Archives

---~-~---------------------------------------------------
,--
location and safety of nuclear plants is troublesome to a regime formally
committed to nuclear energy and the economic benefits of building nuclear
plants near highly populated areas. (
In an era of continued reform policies, another nuclear mishap, even a
comparatively minor one, could unleash a backlash against nuclear energy
that would- be harder to ignore and might haste~ the process of retiring the
Chernobyl'-type (RBMK) reactor:
• The democratization campaign unveiled by Gorbachev, Yakovlev, and
other senior leaders presupposes more sensitivity to public opinion .
• Legislation presented at the June 1987 Supreme Soviet on public
referendums on local issues may give the people a mechanism to express
their concerns.
• Public groups have been able to exert pressure on other env!conmentrelated
issues through mass demonstrations.
• Some critics of current nuclear policy, including prominent journalists,
probably can be more .nftuential under glasnost.
In addition, the Gorbachev regime has issued a number of broader policy
statements designed to curb pollution and improve health and apt'C