Date: 3 June 1993
This message is a call for your support in the fight to stop the west financing the expansion of nuclear power in central and eastern Europe.
Our request is for you to take one small but important action. This is to send a letter to the President of the European Bank (EBRD) and a copy of this letter to your country's representative on EBRD's Board of Directors (listed below). A draft letter is included in this message. The more letters the European Bank receives which are clearly from different national groups, the more powerful our protest will be. Please base your letter on the draft provided as you feel appropriate.
**URGENT**URGENT**URGENT**
Background
EBRD is considering making a Dml.3bn (US$780m) loan for the completion of the part-built Soviet designed nuclear power plant at Mocbovce in Slovakia. Firms from Germany (Siemens, Preussag and Bayern-Werke) and France (EdF) are now asking EBRD for money to complete Mochovce. Their plan is to export a significant amount of any electricity produced back to western Europe.
IF APPROVED THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST NUCLEAR LOAN MADE BY EBRD. IF THIS PROPOSAL IS SUCCESFUL THE GATE WILL BE UNLOCKED FOR EBRD TO MAKE OTHER NUCLEAR LOANS.
WE NEED TO ACT QUICKLY - AS IT IS FAR EASIER TO STOP A PROPOSED LOAN AT AN EARLY STAGE.
In sending this letter and the copy you will be:
- showing EBRD that there is international opposition to the loan
- informing the Board of Directors of that opposition
- giving Friends of the Earth Slovakia your support in their fight to stop the completion of Mochovce
- proving to EBRD that Friends of the Earth International is able to call upon the support of its member groups
The request for support is as follows:
[1] SEND A LETTER FROM YOUR ORGANIZATION BASED ON THE DRAFT ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE TO THE
PRESIDENT OF EBRD
[2] SEND A COPY OF THIS LETThR TO YOUR COUNTRY'S REPRESENTATIVE ON EBRD'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS (a
list of the Directors is given on the last page)
[3] CONTACT FOE EW&NI TO CONFIRM YOU HAVE SENT THE LE'ITER SO THAT WE KNOW WHICH DIRECTORS
HAVE BEEN INFORMED (see address below)
Thank you for your support on behalf of FOE Slovakia and FOE EW&NI.
For further information contact:
FOE EW&NI, 26-28 Underwood St., London Ni 7JQ, UK; tel: + 44-71 490 2665.
M. Jacques Attali
President
EBRD
One Exchange Square
London
EC2A 2EH
June 3, 1993
Dear M. Attali
I am writing to you with regard to the European Bank's intention to finance the construction of the nuclear power plant at Mochovce in Slovakia. 1 group name ] gives its full support to SZOPK (Friends of the Earth Slovakia) in opposing this loan. We believe that such a loan would be in direct contravention of the Bank's mandate to "promote in the full range of its activities environmentally sound and sustainable development" for the reasons set out below.
* The construction of Mochovce nuclear power plant would represent an unjustifiable threat to the environment and human health. The fitting of western standard instrumentation and control technology will not overcome the major design flaws which exist in VVER 440/213 reactors.
* The full costs for Slovakia of building Mochovce have not been considered. These costs must include the management of the nuclear waste generated and the decommissioning of the reactors at the end of their working lifes. Slovakia already faces the decommissioning bill for the four VVER 440/230 reactors at Bohunice. A second similar bill is likely to severely damage the Slovak economy and lead to an increased debt burden.
* The construction of Mochovce nuclear power plant would not represent the least cost option available. The same net gain in the energy balance could be achieved at less cost by investment in end-use energy efficiency measures and the construction of small co-generation plant.
* The loan appears to be aimed more at western interests than the interests of the Slovak people. Mochovce is an example of what an IAEA spokesman described as western firms finding "a crafty way to export their political and social problems" [1]. In addition to any construction contracts, western electricity utilities in Germany and France are set to import a significant percentage of the electricity generated should Mochovce be built.
* EBRD's suggestion that building Mochovce would result in the closure of the Bohumce nuclear plant is highly unlikely. Western companies are keen to pay hard currency to import electricity from central and eastern Europe. As a consequence governments in the region are more likely to push ageing nuclear reactors to their limits than to decommission them.
For these reasons we call on the European Bank not to finance the proposed construction of Mochovce. Instead, we would urge the Bank to follow its recent commitment to end-use efficiency by providing loans which will enable the Slovak people to benefit from environmentally sound and sustainable development.
I look forward to your early response. We have sent a copy of this letter to our representative on the Board of Directors.
Yours sincerely
[ name ]
[ group name ]
[1] Guardian, March 20, 1993
The Directors names are as follows:
USA - Willian Curran
Sweden - Claes de Neergaard
Estonia - Claes de Neergaard
Japan - Tesuma Fuiikawa
Netherlands - Ron Keller
Austria - Heiner Luschin
Italy - Giuseppe Maresca
France - Patrick Mordacq
Norway - Karl Nars
Latvia - Karl Nars
Belgium - Guy Noppen
Luxembourg - Guy Noppen
Portugal - Jose de Silva Lopes
Ireland - Lars Tybjerg
Spain - Jose Luis Ugarte
Poland - Jan Winiecki
Bulgaria - Jan Winiecki
Germany - Gunter Winkelmann
The address for ALL Directors is:
EBRD
One Exchange Square
London
EC2A 2EH
United Kingdom
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