A THREE-JUDGE panel of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) rejected on November 15 an application by the National Movement Ecoglasnost against the April 29 Government decision to re-launch the construction of the country's second nuclear power plant at Belene.
The court found that the challenged Cabinet decision was not the final administrative act regarding the construction of the nuke plant, but only a stage in the preparations for taking such a decision, and therefore was not subject to judicial control.
The SAC decision was signed with a dissenting opinion by the panel president Judge Alexander Elenkov. He wrote that the Safe Uses of Atomic Energy Act did not specify the criteria for distinguishing the challenged decision from a final decision to build a nuke plant.
Ecoglasnost called the decision satisfactory. Its leader, Ivan Sungarski, said that they were happy with the court decision because with it they were able to prove that "there is no responsible Government policy on this matter, but only populism".
The claimant's lawyer, Alexander Kashumov, however, said he would talk to his clients to decide whether they would appeal against the decision. The decision is subject to appeal within seven days to a five-judge panel of the same court.
Kashumov said that if the Government decision was not final, it remained unclear on what grounds the National Electricity Company has opened a public procurement procedure for an engineering designer and a financial consultant for the Belene project. If it turns out that these procedures have started without the requisite legal grounds, it becomes a case for the prosecution, he said.
Later on November 15, Government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev said that there had been a political decision to restart the Belene project and if there had been any minor legal fault in this decision, it would be fixed. He said that the Cabinet would take into consideration the opinion of all civil organisations and would not allow the construction of a power plant threatening the environment.
The construction of Bulgaria's second nuclear plant at Belene started in 1982. The project was mothballed in May 1990 and financing was limited. In December 2002, the Government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg decided to revive the project.
In the latest development on the project, three companies submitted bids in an October 19 public procurement procedure to select a financial consultant. On November 11, an Environment Ministry group of experts approved the environment impact assessment report saying that the project can be given a go-ahead.
Environmentalists protested the group's conclusions and threatened to appeal it in court. They are supported by Greenpeace, whose representative for Eastern Europe, Jan Haverkamp, was in Bulgaria and gave a news conference in on November 15. Haverkamp said that Belene is not only a problem for Bulgaria but also to all of Europe, as any threat coming from it is a threat to all Europeans.
The report that was approved by the expert group of the Ministry of Environment said that project implementation and normal operation would not substantially impact the environment and local people, trans-frontier impact included.
The recommended technology is light-water nuclear technology based on enriched uranium as a fuel and pressurised water as both coolant and neutron moderator, at maximum reactor capacity of 2000 megawatts.
Energy Minister Milko Kovachev said the report did not suggest a programme for spent nuclear fuel management and emergency plans. The seismic risk had largely been underestimated, he said. Kovachev quoted experts as saying that the seismic risk at Belene exceeded that at Kozlodui.
The court found that the challenged Cabinet decision was not the final administrative act regarding the construction of the nuke plant, but only a stage in the preparations for taking such a decision, and therefore was not subject to judicial control.
The SAC decision was signed with a dissenting opinion by the panel president Judge Alexander Elenkov. He wrote that the Safe Uses of Atomic Energy Act did not specify the criteria for distinguishing the challenged decision from a final decision to build a nuke plant.
Ecoglasnost called the decision satisfactory. Its leader, Ivan Sungarski, said that they were happy with the court decision because with it they were able to prove that "there is no responsible Government policy on this matter, but only populism".
The claimant's lawyer, Alexander Kashumov, however, said he would talk to his clients to decide whether they would appeal against the decision. The decision is subject to appeal within seven days to a five-judge panel of the same court.
Kashumov said that if the Government decision was not final, it remained unclear on what grounds the National Electricity Company has opened a public procurement procedure for an engineering designer and a financial consultant for the Belene project. If it turns out that these procedures have started without the requisite legal grounds, it becomes a case for the prosecution, he said.
Later on November 15, Government spokesman Dimitar Tsonev said that there had been a political decision to restart the Belene project and if there had been any minor legal fault in this decision, it would be fixed. He said that the Cabinet would take into consideration the opinion of all civil organisations and would not allow the construction of a power plant threatening the environment.
The construction of Bulgaria's second nuclear plant at Belene started in 1982. The project was mothballed in May 1990 and financing was limited. In December 2002, the Government of Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg decided to revive the project.
In the latest development on the project, three companies submitted bids in an October 19 public procurement procedure to select a financial consultant. On November 11, an Environment Ministry group of experts approved the environment impact assessment report saying that the project can be given a go-ahead.
Environmentalists protested the group's conclusions and threatened to appeal it in court. They are supported by Greenpeace, whose representative for Eastern Europe, Jan Haverkamp, was in Bulgaria and gave a news conference in on November 15. Haverkamp said that Belene is not only a problem for Bulgaria but also to all of Europe, as any threat coming from it is a threat to all Europeans.
The report that was approved by the expert group of the Ministry of Environment said that project implementation and normal operation would not substantially impact the environment and local people, trans-frontier impact included.
The recommended technology is light-water nuclear technology based on enriched uranium as a fuel and pressurised water as both coolant and neutron moderator, at maximum reactor capacity of 2000 megawatts.
Energy Minister Milko Kovachev said the report did not suggest a programme for spent nuclear fuel management and emergency plans. The seismic risk had largely been underestimated, he said. Kovachev quoted experts as saying that the seismic risk at Belene exceeded that at Kozlodui.
