(September 14, 1990) In the last few years, the environmental movement in Yugoslavia has been occupied with actions against nuclear power plants and for the use of renewable energy sources.
(338.3379) WISE Amsterdam - In 1986, just one week after the Chernobyl catastrophe, large demonstrations took place in Ljubljana, the capital of the Republic of Slovenia. Still, the federal government planned to Wild 20 new nuclear power plants in different parts of Yugoslavia. They didn't care about health and environmental risks, they didn't consider Yugoslavia's foreign debt, which is more than US $20 billion. But, in 1989, as a result of a really big campaign, the Parliament of Yugoslavia finally forbade, by special law, the building of any new nuclear power plants until the year 2000.
Yugoslavia's only nuclear power plant, Nuklearna Elektrana Krsko (NEK) in Krsko, Slovenla, is a 634 MW, Westinghouse model which was completed in 1981. Two specific problems connected with Krsko are: solutions for the disposal of low- and middle- level nuclear waste still have not been found. High-level waste is sent back to France for reuse. The waste produced up to this point is onsite at Krsko, but the capacity for disposal was exceeded last year. The directors of Krsko, together with Slovenia's electric company and the government of Slovenia, have been searching for a permanent site for disposal, but all the communities that make up the Republics of Slovenia and Croatia have refused to have a radioactive dump in their territories. If they do not find a "suitable" location very soon, Krsko will have to stop production.
There are also some problems connected with Krsko's cooling system. The plant uses water from the River Sava (near Krsko). A written agreement between the "Rudjer Boskovic" Institute (which controls the work, measures radioactivity, etc.) and the plant states that Krsko can heat the water up to a maximum of two degrees. Later, the maximum was increased to four degrees, with a special addition which specified stricter control of water quality. In the summer, when the level of water is very low, the water often becomes too warm. As a result, Krsko has had to stop five times in the past because a consequence of heating has been a too small rate of oxygen in the water and living organisms in the River had been seriously damaged.
Numerous working problems of the plant aside, another important argument for closing Krsko is the fact that the plant is just 40 km from Zagreb, a city with one million Inhabitants. The problems of evacuation in the case of an accident are overwhelming.
An initiative for closing Krsko has come from the Greens of Slovenia and has strong support from all the groups engaged in the Alpe Adria Alternative network, made up of environmental, peace, women's groups and Green parties from Austria, Italy and Yugoslavia.
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The Austrian government would like to see Nuklearna Elektrana Krsko shut down as soon as possible, preferably before the 1995 date now targeted by the new Slovenian government. Austrian Minister of Environment, Family & Children Marlies Flemming visited the plant on 1 August to underscore what she described as the fear and concern over the plant's safety in nearby Austria. She said her government, which is currently campaigning on a Green platform, would consider providing some form of assistance as regards Krsko and she asked for detailed information on the plant's safety. From its beginning, the Austrian press has regularly depicted Krsko as technologically obsolete, environmentally unsafe, and poorly run, with frequent breakdowns. The Austrian Green movement has been actively pressing for its closure through the Alpe-Adria network and by taking part in protests organized by Slovenian Green groups over the past three or four years. Slovenian Vice Premier Leo Seserko, a longtime Green activist, told Flemming that his government is committed to shutting NEK down. But he said that the decision must be put to a referendum and that the issue could only be decided by Slovenia as a sovereign nation. Seserko said the vote would most likely be held in mid-1991. Nucleonics Week (US), 23 August, 1990, p.5. |
But what are the real possibilities of closing Krsko in the next few years? To anticipate the possibilities with the initiative, it is essential to understand the new political situation In Yugoslavia. As is probably already known, the big wave of political changes in Eastern Europe have also come to Yugoslavia. Last spring, people in the two Republics of Slovenia and Croatia elected new parliaments in the first free elections since the Second World War. The other four Republics will have their elections by the spring of 1991. The question of elections is still open just in the autonomous region of Kosovo. Daily violations of human rights don't give much hope of a chance for democratic and free elections there. Environmental conditions in Kosovo are probably as bad as the conditions of human rights. According to one Yugoslavian ecologist, the people of Kosovo need all of their energy in simply trying to protect their human dignity and sometimes even their lives: they can't even think about damage to nature.
What kind of an impact will the new governments and their policies on energy questions have in Yugoslavia? In Slovenia, the Green party got more than 9% of the vote and are now a part of government and presidency of Slovenia. So the Greens and the winning coalition, DEMOS (which is also made up of Greens), have promised to close Krsko by 1995.
Some concrete facts which point in favor of closing Krsko are:
- Slovenia almost changed development projections and chose soft energy development with a slow Increase In energy consumption. The government and industry agreed on this aim two years ago, when they learned a lesson about useless Investments in extensive industry in the case of big investments in modernization of a steel factory In Jesenice and an aluminum factory In Kidricevo. Both factories, especially the steel factory did not produce the expected economic results. The steel factory is in a bad financial state and the government continues to discuss its closing, step by step, in the next fifteen years. it's possible closing would reduce consumption of electricity by a quite respectable percent, but it would still not be equal to the production of Krsko. (In 1985, environmental groups began the campaign against these Investments and the increasing of energy consumption. By 1987, most "Green" warnings came true. This is probably the most important reason for the large popularity of the Greens and 9% of the votes in the elections).
- A desire to fix consumption of energy at one level by 1995 is supported by concrete programs for production of electricity from renewable energy sources and energy conservation. An important program is the project "400 little hydro-plants". The use of solar energy is almost entirely dependent on the individual decisions of consumers, without the support of effective propaganda or tax policies from the government. Solar collectors are still very expensive.
- The Greens are drawing additional political power from the fact that the coalition will lose a majority in Parliament If the Greens are left out. Thus, they are very strong instruments In negotiations with political partners. They can use their political power to promote positive tax policies and form a real basis for the "polluter pay principle" In Slovenla.
But there are also factors which are working against closing Krsko:
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The Republic of Slovenia constructed the Krsko plant in cooperation with the Republic of Croatia and shared all building expenses fifty-fifty. (In fact, not one dollar from the basis of credit is yet paid; both Republics are paying only the interest on the credit).
Croatia uses 40% of the electricity produced. Croatia has had a majority electing system and the Greens got just one place In Parliament; The new Croatian government does not even have a ministry of environment. So, the Croatian government wants to have Croatia's share of electricity from Krsko or a financial substitute for the energy. Such expenses are too high for the Slovenian government. - The government of Croatia is disputing a decision of the Yugoslavian Parliament made in 1989 about a moratorium on nuclear power plants, with the argument that the law has been made by a non-legal Parliament, appointed without free elections. The Croatian government will probably devise a new nuclear program. People in Croatia are against new nuclear power plants, but it is not easy to assess whether they would support the closing of Krsko. Even Slovenia doesn't want to pay for a substitute for Krsko electricity. There is, for sure, a huge amount of work tor the environmental movement in Croatia.
Source: Vesna Terselic (Yugoslavia), 24 August, 1990.
Contact: Vesna Terselie, Kombolova 11, 41020 Novi Zagreb, Yugoslavia, tel: +38 41 675 318.
Vesna is a member of "Green Action Zagreb", an organization formed in January 1990 by activists from various environmental peace, feminist and spiritual groups. "Green Action Zagreb" focuses mainly on five envionmental issues: energy policies; incorporatIng energy conservation and alternative energy sources; waste disposal; drinking water pollution; Green policies and; the building of a Green information network. The information network is especially important for local activists In Yugoslavia who are trying to connect-up with international green databases. They need a Green phone, database and news-paper and are asking people to send everything from information to old machines! Contact: Green Action Zagreb, Gajeva 45, 41000 Zagreb, Yugoslavia.