Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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clear energy have been able to block the further expansion of the industry sought
by the nuclear establishment.
However, on March 26, 1992, the success of nuclear opponents was upstaged when
the Russian government decided to "resume construction of a number of new nuclear
plants and to increase the capacity of existing ones." «° Nevertheless, that decision
seems to have been motivated not by the support of the public, but by the government's
perception of a need for nuclear energy. In fact, a recent referendum on
the construction of the Bashkir nuclear station in Russia showed 99 percent of the
voters opposed to the plant. As a result, President Boris Yeltsin has promised that it
will be converted to natural gas.®^
An additional factor, the accident at Chernobyl has aroused a prevailing fear
among Ukrainian citizens, whose support has strengthened the anti-nuclear movement.
Protests have occurred at many nuclear pleints, in particular at the Khmel'-
nitskly plant. Not surprisingly, the Green party has also recently been gaining popular
support.
Public hostility will not go away even if the bureaucracy cleans up its act, since
public mistrust will be slow to change—for good reason. This strong public opinion
and current bureaucratic inefficiency undermine the nuclear optimists' vision of the
future workability of nuclear power. Even in the presence of massive infusions of
Western funding, the potential for the "success" of nuclear power in these countries
remains highly questionable.
A. Long-term Energy Strategies
IV. ENERGY ALTERNATIVES
This proposal aims not simply at the replacement of nuclear-generated electricity
by conventional sources, but rather at the development of long-term energy strategies
designed to erase the dangerous dependence on nuclear energy and foster the
use of safe, sustainable energy. The goal of an energy strategy should be to use safe
primary energy most efficiently, in order to alleviate the need for dangerous primary
energy. Therefore, conservation should aim not only at electricity savings, but
also at savings in the total consumption of primary energy sources. Given that electricity
itself is ultimately generated by the consumption of primary energy, the conservation
of conventional primary energy frees up resources to be used in the replacement
of nuclear-generated electricity. In this way, the consumption of primary
energy connects intimately to the consumption of electricity.
For safe primary energy to be used most efficiently, it may indeed be necessary
for electricity consumption to stay constant or to increase, because in many areas
(such as in certain areas of the transportation sector) consumption of electricity is
more efficient that direct consumption of a primary energy source. However, this
does not conflict with the goal of replacing nuclear power; rather, it suggests that
the structure of energy production and use will have to shift if efficiency is to be
maximized. A sound energy strategy, then, may well involve the diversion of primary
energy sources to the generation of electricity, and the subsequent construction
of alternate generation facilities.
One possible policy solution would be a tax on any primary energy consumption
(especially oil) found to be less efficient than electric alternatives. The revenue collected
could be used to fund the construction of new generation sites for electricity.
B. Eastern Europe
As a percentage of electricity produced in 1991, nuclear power accounts for 28.6
percent in CSFR, 48.4 percent in Hungary, and 34 percent in Bulgaria. ^^ However,
the situation in the energy market remains fluid, and opportunities for short- and
long-run substitution exist.
1. Market Reform
As energy markets throughout Eastern Europe become liberalized, prices will rise
until they match international levels. In Hungary, those levels have already been
matched in coal, oil, gas, and heat markets. ^^ CSFR currently pays international
market prices for imported oil, and has targeted 1995 as the deadline for the full
elimination of all subsidies, direct and indirect, paid to the energy market. ^^ Bulgaria
has increased prices to world levels, and has begun to restructure state ownership
of the energy industry, even going so far as to privatize the natural gas industry.6
5
As power becomes more expensive, the quantity of power demanded will decrease.
However, the extent of the decrease depends on the responsiveness of quantity demanded
to price (in economic terms, the price elasticity of demand). This responsiveness
depends on the ability of final consumers to implement conservation measures.