Stop Baltic NPP!

European Greens are deeply concerned about the project of Baltic nuclear plant, proposed by "Rosatom", Russia' state nuclear corporation in the region of Kaliningrad, near the border with Lithuania/European Union. Proposed reactor type VVER-1200 based on old Soviet technology originated in 1960s, and so cannot pretend to be modern and safest of possible. This type belongs to reactor generation 2, plus while other reactors under construction in Europe are not lower than generation 3.

In the Environmental Impact Assessment done by Russian nuclear industry, it is not clear what technology will be used to dispose nuclear waste. It is widely known that nuclear industry worldwide could not come up with safe and reliable technology for disposal of nuclear waste over last 60 years. It also remains an open question of how reactor will be dismantled after its life-resource expired and if it will be dismantled at all or just left near European border as huge nuclear waste dumping site.

Another concern related to lack of democratic decision-making. According to Russian green and environmental groups, many opposed local citizens were not allowed to take part in official public hearings, while public access to documentation on Baltic NPP was complicated. "Rosatom" officials were distributing wrong facts on the eve of public hearings to falsify public opinion. And number of mass-media cooperating with nuclear industry organized massive' slander campaign against environmentalists opposed to Baltic NPP.

Although, it is planned to build Baltic NPP nearby the border with the EU, "Rosatom" rejected possibility to organize international public hearings in neighboring countries. Independent experts were not allowed to do alternative assessment of the project. European Greens insist that the Baltic NPP project implementation stopped until independent international assessment is done, including by experts from neighboring countries (Poland, Lithuania). There must be new public hearings organized, just and international, not only in Kaliningrad region but also in countries which has common border with Russian region.