Delay action nuclear bomb

A nuclear power plant is jokingly called peaceful. It is a biting jest, however. Only those who will gain huge benefit from the plant construction can joke like that.

The nuclear plant construction will bring will have only troubles upon common Belarusians. Has long time passed since the black shade of Chernobyl disaster fell upon our country and made it a hostage of “peaceful atom”?

It has affected us – from a prosperous country Belarus has turned into an ill one, losing about 50 thousands of its citizens every year. The country needs serious treatment. But instead of this, it is forced to new experiments disregarding new calamities for our nation.

A nuclear reactor is obviously extremely dangerous not only in case of a disaster, but also during constant normal work, poisoning the environment with radioactive discharge. Academician Kapitsa called a nuclear plant a “producing electricity nuclear bomb.” But do we really need it? Wasn’t the Chernobyl disaster enough for us?

It is a well-known fact that main “production” of a nuclear plant is not so much electricity as huge amount of extremely hazardous radioactive releases.

Construction of a nuclear plant is many times as expensive as construction of new, or modernisation of already existing heating stations. Are we so rich today, do we have enough money left after construction of various “ice rinks?”

Period of a nuclear plant construction is at least 8 years, which is four times longer than period of thermal stations construction. It is huge money, no less than 10 billion dollars, freezing for such a long period! Does our everything-deficit country have nothing more useful to spend money on?

Complaining about gas and oil resources can some time be exhausted, one forgets a truthful fact that atomic fuel is deficit even today and increases in price annually. By the time a nuclear plant has been constructed, it will become senseless to run it.

Electrical energy primecost, produced by nuclear stations, amounts to 15 cents per kWh, while primecost of heating stations energy is 3 cents per kWh. How do you like now the “profitability” of a nuclear plant? How much will common consumers pay for electricity?

One should near in mind that creating of the same generating capacity on the base of existing heating stations and using renewable energy source is fully safe, moreover it will demand no more than two billion dollars and will pay for itself within 4-5 years.

In the times, when opinion polls were permitted in the country, the great majority of the Belarusian population (about 90 per cent) stood against this adventurous idea.

Belarus signed and ratified The Aarhus Convention of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, granting the public rights regarding governmental decision-making processes on matters concerning nuclear power plants and other nuclear objects. By signing the convention the state is obliged to admit and support organisations or groups engaged in environment protection, defend their participants from punishments and any forms of persecution.

So, we have the truth and the law on our side.