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A hybrid discussion event on “The green transition in Bulgaria – opportunities, benefits and false solutions. Does Bulgaria need new nuclear power facilities?” is organised in Sofia by za Zemiata and can be attended online on 29 March from 09:00-17:30 CET Speakers: Registration The meeting will be simultaneously translated into English (only via zoom). The…
One of the key topics of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Prague will be efforts to support French state-owned EDF, which is bidding to build new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic. But there is the failure to build new nuclear power plants on time and at the agreed price, not only abroad but…
Za Zemiata wrote a letter to the Bulgarian Prime Minister concerning the planned newbuild of Kozloduy 7 pointing to violations of the law The Bulgarian NGOs Za Zemiata and Greenpeace call on the government to stop the procedures for the construction of units 7 and 8 at the Kozloduy NPP, not only due to violations…
The Joint Project participates in this second Topical Peer Review II because fire protection is very important for nuclear safety. This Topical Peer Review (TPR) is now in the next step: Countries had to submit their national reports, and these have been open for consultation. The Joint Project commissioned expert Oda Becker to check the…
An update of Patricia Lorenz’s study “Russian Grip on EU Nuclear Power” was commissioned by the Viennese Environmental Ombudsman and “Cities for a Nuclear Free Europe” (CNFE). The study analyses the European nuclear sector’s dependency on Russia. In particular, it also analyses possible EU strategies to reduce this dependency. The EU has not come any…
The first environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures for the so-called Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in the EU started in Poland in the fall of 2023. As of November 2023, three EIA procedures were ongoing. This procedure covers the construction and operation of up to four SMRs with BWRX-300 technology and a total output of up…
Launch of a study: “Perspectives of Small Modular Reactors in the Czech Republic” – Jan 2024: English version also available! The study was presented in October 2023 by the author Stephen Thomas, Emeritus Professor at the University of Greenwich, UK. He has examined seven SMR technologies under development, from which the Czech energy company CEZ…
For the first time ever, NPP permitting procedures were open to NGOs beyond the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is usually the only possibility for public participation. The transboundary EIA for Dukovany 5 took place in 2018 with hearings not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Vienna and Munich. However, the EIA was…
After the reactor catastrophe in 2011, 1.3 million tons of radioactive contaminated water are stored at the Fukushima site. Japan now started to release the water into the Pacific Ocean. While a new IAEA report affirms the safety of the release, NGOs and neighboring countries China and the Pacific Island Forum protest against the measure.…
On 10.08.2023, the French regulator ASN’s decision on the lifetime extension of Tricastin-1, which had been taken already on 29.06.2023, was announced – and this without a transboundary EIA. This is in violation of the Espoo “Guidance on the applicability of the Convention to the lifetime extension of nuclear power plants”.
On 9 August, 2023 the Joint Project NGOs and many other organizations – a total of 28 organizations from 11 countries – sent an open letter of protest to the EU Commissioner of the Environment, the EU Energy Commissioner and the Polish Espoo authority GDOŚ against the insufficient public consultation period provided by the Polish…
Nuclear waste from NPPs remains an unsolved and highly dangerous problem, as spent fuel must remain isolated from the environment for a million years. In an attempt to solve the nuclear waste problem, an EU-wide directive was introduced in 2011, the “Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of…
Joint Project partner Energiaklub published a series on interviews and infographics on the following topics: Interview with Director General Petteri Tiippana from Finnish regulator STUK (Finland wanted to construct the same reactor type as for Paks 2 but – in contrary to Hungary – abandoned the project shortly after Russia started the War on Ukraine)…
In July 2023, media reported that Ukraine has started discussions to purchase Bulgaria’s two Russian-made nuclear reactors that were foreseen for the Belene site with EU money. The Joint Project sent a letter to the European Commission to verify: We did not receive an answer, therefore we updated and re-sent the letter on 5 Feb…
The plan to construct a nuclear power plant at the Danube in Bulgaria stems from the 70ies of the last century when Bulgaria was still a part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
Nuclear Transparency Watch recently published a new factsheet for privat households how to prepare for a NPP accident and what to in case of a nuclear emergency. The factsheet is available in English and can be downloaded here. More translations are planned.
The Joint Project participated in the EIA on the lifetime extension of the reactors Doel-4 and Tihange-3 in May 2023. Both reactors will be 40 years in operation in 2025, now their lifetime shall be extended until 2037. As both reactors have been constructed before the EIA laws came into force, they have never undergone…
In France, the public debate on new reactors has started, namely on two reactors in Penly in Normandy. In cooperation with the NGO RECH (Réaction en Chaîne Humaine) and Nuclear Transparency Watch, we drafted a letter to the responsible French authorities and EC to demand adequate participation in the form of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)…
Urgewald, Friends of the Earth Europe, the energy thinktank DiXi Group (Ukraine) and the geo-economics thinktank Eastern Circles (France) and ENERGOATOM, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, have discussed possible sanctions against ROSATOM, the state-owned nuclear corporation of the Russian Federation. More than one year after Russia has invaded Ukraine, significant sanctions against ROSATOM are still…
NPP Krško started its commercial operation in 1983. It is owned by Nuklearna elektrarna Krško d.o.o. (NEK). Its operating licence was valid until the end of 2023, NEK wanted to extend the life-time for 20 years until 2043. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was conducted, also transboundary. The environmental license was issued in January 2023.…
Despite the withdrawal from Russia, business continues with ROSATOM. The Association of Ethical Shareholders requests in its countermotions that this business is terminated. Read here the answer of Siemens Energy (in German only). At the Annual General Meeting of Siemens, Vladimir Slivyak/Ecodenfense, Patricia Lorenz/Friends of the Earth Europe and Sebastian Rötters/urgewald spoke. Find here the…
The Joint Project online symposium examined the situation of the war in Ukraine and other military and terror threats on nuclear power plants. The attacks on Zaporishia NPP shocked the world, because the unthinkable – intentional shelling of an operating NPP – actually took place. Other threats such as the cyberattacks on the Iranian NPP…
Poland wants to build its first NPP. In 2015, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) started with a scoping phase, since Nov 2022 the next phase is conducted. The EIA Report and other documents in English and German language can be found here. The public consultation for the transboundary EIA was open between midth November and…
Taxonomy including nuclear, electricity prices soon to make new nuclear economic and the industry claiming nuclear plants are ready to battle the climate crisis shows a need for reorientation of antinuclear campaigns. Therefore we want to discuss one of the three currently available NPP designs – the EPR. Well-known independent experts explained what the safety…
Posiva is the operator of the future Finnish high level waste repository at the Olkiluoto site. The company submitted its application for the operation license for the HLW repository and an encapsulation plant in Dec. 2021. The public had time until Sept 2022 to comment on this application. The Joint Project submitted a comment focussing…
On 30 June 2022, the Commission notified Czechia of its decision to initiate this procedure laid down in Article 108(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Interested parties could submit their comments on this topic. Joint Project supported the comment of Global 2000. Furthermore, comments were submitted by Calla and South…
The study gives a brief overview of the history of nuclear energy in Estonia – the Soviet era plans, the joint failure of the baltic states and the rise of the current private push for nuclear. It then details how the nuclear meme has entered into governmental planning documents. Following this, some fresh reports specifically…
On July 6, 2022 the European Parliament voted to include gas and nuclear in the EU taxonomy. This leads to the inclusion of the so-called Advanced Reactors as a Green transitional technology. In our webinar we discussed what the EP decisions will mean for nuclear technology and the SMR/Advanced Reactors in particular. After a talk…
Nuclear waste management or rather the lack of it has been the nuclear industry’s Achilles’ heel. Now more than ever industry claims having found the solution, the first Deep Geological Repositories (DGR) might start operating in the next years. The EU Taxonomy which is supposed to bring in fresh funds for nuclear construction, brought the…
Patricia Lorenz and Vladimir Slivyak analysed the EU dependency on the Russian nuclear industry in a study and presented it in an online press conference. More information on the press conference and the study (scroll to 4 May 2022: Russian Grip on EU nuclear power and the need for an embargo) Article of March 2022
Only recently, Bulgaria and Greece started talks about the jointly construction of NPP Kozloduy-7&8 in Bulgaria using Greek money. Read the Declaration
The Joint Project was preparing this webinar to provide support for NGOs and the public to initiate and join an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure for the life-time extension of nuclear power plants (LTE) now that the Espoo Guidance has been decided. In the webinar, about 20 participants from 13 countries took part. Programme Presentations…
The Czech Government and the Czech majority state-owned energy company ČEZ have undertaken several steps incl. state aid proposal advancing the preparation of the construction of one (or two) new nuclear unit of up to 1200 MW at the area of the current nuclear power plant Dukovany. The Czech state intends to provide up to…
NPP Loviisa consists of two units, Loviisa 1 and 2. Loviisa 1 started commercial operation in 1977 and Loviisa 2 in 1980. The NPP is owned by Fortum Power and Heat Oy. The current operating licence issued by the Finnish government is valid until the end of 2027 and 2030, respectively. Fortum wants to extend…
The results of the peer reviewed report “NPP Paks II: Paleo-seismological assessment of the Siting Report and the Site License with respect to fault capability” showed that evidence for a capable fault at the site was swept under the carpet. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) guidelines, the Western European Nuclear Regulator’s Association…
