Greenpeace Battles Slovakian Government over Nuclear Power Plant

A major battle between Slovakia’s environmentalists and the government is emerging as Greenpeace charges that the country’s recently completed nuclear power plant at Mochovce in Nitra has in fact violated the public’s rights.

Greenpeace claimed that signatory countries of the Aarhus Convention have confirmed that Slovakia has violated the rights of the public regarding the dispute surrounding the completion of the Mochovce NPP, Tla?ová agentúra Slovenskej republiky new agency reported.

Aarhus Convention member nations met in Kishinev, Moldova to discuss the Greenpeace complaint, which was filed in conjunction with VIA IURIS and other Slovak and Austrian NGOs, alleging that Slovakia's Nuclear Supervisory Authority refused to allow them to take part in the certification process which approved the completion of the third and fourth reactor complexes at the Mochovce NPP.

Greenpeace remained optimistic that their complaint, allied to those of other NGOS and public opinion would ultimately prevail. Greenpeace spokesman Andrea Zlatnanska said, "We believe that the completion of Mochovce will be halted in the end until a regular permission process takes place."

The Aarhus Convention, under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, deals with access to information and public participation in decision-making in environmental matters.  Mochovce contains two 470 megawatt reactors which currently generate almost 6,000 GWh of electricity annually, providing approximately 20 percent of Slovakia's energy needs.

By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com