Madness: Nuclear plans for Bulgaria's earthquake zone

Hello again,

Can you please take two minutes today to send an urgent message to Europe's Energy Commissioner, calling on him to oppose the plans for a new nuclear power plant in Bulgaria?

SEND A MESSAGE RIGHT NOW

The European Commission is to give its opinion under Euratom Article 41 to 44 on the Belene nuclear power plant in (very) early December. If they say "ok", it opens the door to Euratom loans for this nuclear plant, as well as similar loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Bulgarian Government has already reserved money for a government guarantee of ?300 million for Euratom loans and another ?300 million of EIB loans.
So far, we have been able to keep the Belene nuclear plant in a financial quagmire. This would change if it gets Euratom finance - banks would be less reluctant to take the risk of investing in this project.
The risks are far too high. Even back in the 1980s, Soviet scientists warned that the area around Belene is seismically active and thus unsuited for a nuclear power station.
During the last large earthquake in the region, over 120 people died just 14 kilometres from the planned site of the nuclear power plant. In the early 1990s, nuclear plans for Belene were scrapped and the first democratically elected government in Bulgaria concluded that the project was, "technically unsafe and economically not viable". This was shortly after the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences issued a study that ruled against the project and specifically warned against the seismic risks at this location.
Send a message to the European Commission not to play Russian Roulette with our future. European taxpayers' money must not be used for a project that will put millions of people at risk.

TAKE ACTION

Best wishes,
Everyone at Greenpeace

P.S. Don't forget to forward this email message to friends or groups who oppose the nuclear threat too.