CHERNOBYL CLOSES: GREENPEACE CALLS FOR THE CLOSURE OF THE THIRTEEN REMAINING CHERNOBYL TYPE REACTORS

15 December 2000

London -While the world can finally breath a small sigh of relief as the last operable reactor at the infamous Chernobyl site closes today, Greenpeace called upon the government's of Russia and Lithuania to close the remaining 13 Chernobyl type Russian RBMKs.

"The closure of Chernobyl's last reactor comes more than 14 years after reactor number 4 shrouded the world in a radioactive cloud, we cannot afford to wait another fourteen years before the remainder are shut down." said Tobias Muenchmeyer of Greenpeace International.

The risk of a second Chernobyl catastrophe in Europe is ever present: 13 reactors of the same design in Russia and Lithuania and another 200 reactors of only slightly safer design in Europe means it's only a question of time. "Chernobyl has made shockingly clear, that the phase-out of nuclear power world-wide must be the Number One priority for saving our planet. The crumbling Chernobyl sarcophagus stands as a testimony to the collapse of the nuclear dream, it is a symbol of the failure of nuclear power." said Tobias Muenchmeyer.

After years of fraught political negotiations and broken promises, Chernobyl's closure is based on the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine and the G7 countries. The G7 agreed to a loan for the reform of the Ukraine's power sector and for the stabilization of the Chernobyl sarcophagus.

The deal also included the completion of the half-built nuclear reactors Khmelnitsky-2 and Rovno-4, known as "K2R4", as part of a package of energy options for replacing the power from Chernobyl.

Despite strict citeria that any power replacement plan should be the least cost option and the best advice of independent experts, last Thursday the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a loan of $215 million for the completion of the K2R4 reactors. Just six days later the European Commission fell in behind them and agreed to a Euratom loan of $ 585 million.

"It is an utterly cynical decision by the EBRD and the European Commission to fund more nuclear reactors in a country, which suffers more than all others from the Chernobyl catastrophe, while in their own backyard in the EU not a single country is constructing new nuclear reactors." said Muenchmeyer.

At present, 3.5 million people live on radioactive Ukrainian land, 1 million of them are children. Around 380,000 children have leukaemia, thyroid problems and anaemia. "In memory of and respect to the victims of Chernobyl we call on the government of Ukraine not to complete the reactors Khmelnitsky-2 and Rovno-4 ("K2R4") as "replacement" of Chernobyl, but instead to pursue sustainable energy solutions based on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency" said Muenchmeyer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Tobias Münchmeyer, Greenpeace International Nuclear Campaigner, +49 170 86 66 052.