H.P. Martin: “The Great EU-Nuclear Scam”

 

The independent MEP H.P. Martin was a longstanding member of the supervisory board at Greenpeace Germany and is a co-founder of the Austrian Ecology-Institute. As correspondent for the German magazine “Spiegel”, he consistently conducted research on nuclear questions, especially in the USSR and the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO).

 

H.P. Martin now raises serious accusations: “Contrary to the claims of the EU-Commission, the EU is even worse equipped for a NPP incident than Japan, particularly in NPPs close to the boarder, such as Fessenheim (France), Temelin or Dukovany (Czech Republic). A communication and operation chaos could be expected. Compulsory EU-wide emergency plans or even evacuation regulations are non-existent. In fact, the excessively praised EU information system ECURIE proved, in its so far only serious employment in 2008 (Krsko) to be a “Communications disaster beyond all expectations”.

 

The minimum EU security standards for NPPs are based on the regulations of the renowned nuclear-friendly IAEO. Moreover, the corresponding EU directive 71/2009 is merely implemented in three EU member states. In the other 24 EU member states this directive has not been integrated into the federal law. A national deliberate norm confusion is reigning.

 

In regards of Article 44 of the EURATOM Treaty – with defiance of fundamental EU-transparency-directives such as Article 15 of the Lisbon Treaty and the Arhus Convention – countless important details vis-à-vis nuclear questions are being systematically concealed from the European Parliament and the public.

 

Next to the clear-cut budget line 3205 “nuclear energy” in the EU-Budget for “nuclear energy”, a multiplicity of extraordinary benefits to nuclear power companies and nuclear researchers is hidden beneath various entries, which overall account for far over one billion Euro annually. Additionally, the development of the fusion reactor ITER in the years 2012/2013, will burst an EU-fiscal gap worth 1.4 billion Euro.

 

This all has a mundane reason: the EU-Institutions reside in the inescapable grip of the nuclear lobbyists. The so-called monitoring is often self-referential, i.e. the inspectors inspect themselves. Primarily stakeholders of the nuclear energy industry are represented within the numerous “expert groups” at the EU-Commission and Council. The activities essentially take place behind closed doors.

 

EU civil servants of the EU-Commission and Council, who were mostly one-sidedly recruited by the nuclear energy authority, are participating in dubious Europe-wide “technological platforms”, which are dominated by lobbyists of the atomic energy industry, who are however mainly financed through EU funds. I will disclose corresponding research results shortly.

 

Overall this results in an alarming image: The EU-Institutions, who usually closely regulate numerous areas of the life of EU citizens, have drawn insufficient conclusions from Chernobyl, 25 years ago.

 

The henceforth announced NPP-stress tests are merely meaningful under strict guidelines: a catalogue of criteria, which is in compliance with the strictest safety procedures for the individual nuclear reactor types, is a necessity. All documents must be open to the public and industry-independent experts must gain significant participation. Otherwise the stress tests will degenerate to a sham.

 

Especially the EU-Commissioners Günther Oettinger (Energy) and Johannes Hahn (Regions) are now extremely stipulated. An energy turnaround can only function if the EU budget is rearranged severely: the EUROATOM credit cannot be extended, the research funding must focus on renewable energies. And at least 10 percent of the current annual 51 billion Euro from the regional- and cohesion fund will be needed as initial funding for new energy grids, which would then be doubled nationally.

 

The goal must be a swift and orderly nuclear power phase-out.

Just now I submitted 50 parliamentary questions that are supposed to aid in cutting a swath through the EU nuclear jungle.”

 

Published on 18/3/2011