10/08/2005 - Activists
opposing the construction of the Belene nuclear
plant. The US$3 billion cost of the plant
would be much better spent on energy efficiency
and wind power.
Greenpeace occupied a construction site in
Belene, Bulgaria, today with a simple message:
the answer to dangerous climate change is
not a dangerous, polluting nuclear power plant
built in an earthquake zone.
More than 50 activists from Bulgaria and across
Europe occupied the construction site of the
nuclear plant, which is costing Bulgaria US$
3 billion and promises a mountain of hazardous
nuclear waste that nobody knows what to do
with.
Even worse, the energy that the plant is
designed to produce could easily be replaced
by much cheaper energy efficiency measures
and by exploiting Bulgaria's bountiful wind
resources for clean renewable energy.
Winner and losers
Big business will be the only winners from
the construction of the plant while the local
communities will have to deal with the consequences.
The plant is being built in a known earthquake
zone.
Albena Simeonova, a Goldman-award winning
environmentalist, is leading the local opposition.
She has been threatened and survived a suspected
attempt on her life.
Speaking from the occupation she said she
was delighted to see the powerful forces behind
the plant construction under pressure.
Energy Revolution Tour
We are currently touring countries in central
and eastern Europe to promote a clean energy
revolution away from dirty fossil fuels and
dangerous nuclear power towards clean energy.
Energy efficiency, wind, solar, and biomass
are the solutions that will help avert catastrophic
global climate change. Nuclear power is a
dangerous dead end.
