Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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from July 6-8. Because the Governments and their advisors at the World Bank,
IAEA and other agencies have not developed action plans that are commensurate
with the risks to the public, Friends of the Earth has compiled this Report.
To help Eastern European countries and the republics of the former Soviet Union
prevent further major nuclear disasters, the G-7 countries and their agents should:
1. Immediately ^ help close down fifteen nuclear power reactors of the Chernobyl
type (RBMK), sixteen reactors of the early pressurized water type (WER 440/230),
and eight second-generation pressurized water types (WER 440/213) by providing
the direct assistance of western teams of scientists and engineers and financial aid.^
The Immediate closures should include:
• all fifteen RBMK reactors in CIS and Lithuania;
• all ten WER 440/230 pressurized water nuclear plants In the CIS;*
• four reactors ^ at Kozloduy (Bulgaria);
• all eight existing pressurized water nuclear power reactors In the CSFR;® and
• Paks (Hungary) reactors 1 and 2.''
2. Through investments of at least $10 billion, mobilize and fund safe energy alternatives
in the region during the next five years, focussed on the reduction of
waste in the industrial, household, and transportation sectors, as well as on immediate
steps to invest in safe and sustainable energy.
3. Rapidly replace 50 percent of the power generated by the nuclear power reactors
with "supply side" options, including rehabilitation and better use of existing
thermal powerplants and quickly installed gas turbine combination co-generation
plants. If the goal were to provide approximately 12,000 MWe through gas turbine
combination go-generation plants, this would require an estimated investment of
about $8 billion.
4. Assist in developing energy strategies for each country whose fundamental
principles include:
• closure of all remaining nuclear power reactors as soon as possible, but within
five years;
• rapid reduction of pollution caused by outdated solid fuel use;
• a comprehensive energy efficiency approach; and
• policies to foster the development of safe and sustainable energy for the longterm.
Based on currently available information, the G-7 intends to spend about $800
million in aid money on improving the existing nuclear power reactors rather than
rapidly phasing them out. This approach seems to be based upon four main objectives:
1. To reduce the risks of nuclear accidents;
2. To decrease air pollution by replacing old lignite and coal powerplants, rather
than nuclear plants;
3. To create projects for Western companies specialized in nuclear power that face
a lack of contracts in the West;
4. To prevent a further loss of public support for the nuclear option (including
existing nuclear investments) in both Western and Eastern countries.
FOEI supports the first objective, but it advocates an alternative approach to risk
reduction—the closure of all nuclear power reactors in these countries, beginning
with the most dangerous, and rapidly phasing out the remainder.
This approach requires immediate investment in energy conservation and the development
of safe energy supplies, involving both electricity generation and measures
to induce different decisions by end-users of energy. Increases in "usable" electricity
should be followed by the prompt closure of the remaining reactors, on the
basis of risk posed by a particular facility.
The closures of all the nuclear power reactors should be sponsored by the G-7
countries on the basis of GRANTS: since the closures themselves will not yield profits,
lending money to dismantle these nuclear facilities would further deteriorate
the financial positions of these countries.
The second objective of the G-7 Governments should be met not with nuclear
energy but with a decrease in the energy intensity of these economies. At this
moment the energy use/GDP of Hungary is, for example, 3.91 times that of the European
OECI>countries. The other countries are similarly energy-inefficient.
It is folly of the highest order to follow the third and fourth objectives of the G-7
Governments. Instead, all efforts in the energy sector should be focussed on demand
reduction and the provision of safe and clean supplies. Trying to support their own
nuclear industries means that the G-7 countries will be wasting their own citizens'
money and risking disasters which can be avoided.
The G-7 Governments are presented with an unprecedented opportunity to invest
in life-sustaining rather than life-threatening options in the Eastern countries. By