In 1990 the construction of the Belene NPP was frozen mainly
because of two reasons: the official statement of the experts
from the Bulgarian Academy of Science, which pointed out the
full inexpediency of the Belene NPP in many aspects like -
seismic insecurity of the ground of the plant; negative envi-
ronmental impact  in the region; economic ineffectiveness, and
secondly the pressure of the public against this construction.
Now five years later the public opinion is prepared to accept
Belene as the only possible solution for its energy future.

+ The Media and Belene:
All popular newspapers in Bulgaria present interviews and
statements of experts in which they explains how secure and
clean the nuclear industry is and how close we are to the
energy crisis, which can be avoided only with new nuclear
energy capacities. Government officials speak of Belene as an
unquestionable fact. In the mostly watched TV program "Obser-
ver" a famous journalist presented 30 minutes videofilm about
the Kozloduy NPP. He walks inside the plant, asks questions
and always receives the same answer - everything is very
secure and there is no radiation and no danger about the
health of the people. So through the media the public opinion
is step by step focused on the unescapable need of Belene.

+ The new Energy Strategy and Belene:
The new Energy Strategy for the development of Bulgaria till
2010 has been recently proposed in the Parliament. The main
new energy capacity building option in this strategy is the
construction of Belene. The PM Widenov explained in the parli-
ament what the plans of the government are about the construc-
tion of Belene. He said that untill 2000 Belene is not an
alternative for the government. This period will be used for
technical investigation, licensing of the building site and
financial investigation (possibilities for exporting electri-
city should be analyzed in this investigation). There is not
an alternative Energy Strategy proposed in the Parliament to
be discussed.

+ Environmental groups and Belene:
In principle all environmental NGOs are not tolerant to the
nuclear production because of well known facts and arguments.
There are some specific arguments against the construction of
Belene, which make the plant very dangerous and problematic.
Some of the key arguments are the following:
- the seismic insecurity of the building site. The common
seismic activity of the region is assessed at 8 degree (MSK) -
this is the maximum degree estimated for the construction of a
NPP. So the position of the building site does not give the 
necessary needed seismic reserve.
- because of his specific position Belene would have a high
negative impact on the environment in the region, which is
clear proved in the Bulgarian scientist statement. For example
climate change; destruction of the water balance; possible
pollution of the underground water; cancer decease as result
from the combined impact of the radioactivity and chemical
plant in the town.
- economic inefficiency and the real possibilities for
Bulgaria to build its energy capacity without using nuclear
energy.
Several environmental groups decided to make the public aware
of this arguments.

The Protest:
The environmental activists staged an attractive street spec-
tacle presenting the two energy options symbolized by two
groups dressed up respectively in black and in sunny, motley
colours. It was decided in advance that the apocalyptic death
masks would eventually smother the lively renewables. For the
Earth (Za Zemyata) group prepared leaflet, which was dissemi-
nate among the passengers and parliament members. Two members
from Za Zemyata handed out to the Chairman of the Parliament a
statement signed by several Bulgarian NGOs demanding an alter-
native energy strategy and protesting against the including of
Belene in the future energy capacity building options.

The Results:
The same evening the tv emissions presented in the two tv
programs short reports for from the action. All daily newspa-
pers (around  7) published pictures on their first page from
the action with a short text. Even the communist daily newspa-
per "Duma" printed a picture with an objective note about the
protest. Two days later the opposition daily newspaper publis-
hed a big article (prepared with the help of "For the Earth"-
group) presenting most of the arguments end problems of Belene
construction.
Comment: The key arguments of the action were poorly presented
in all the media.

Further steps:
The evaluation of the action showed the following facts and
recommendations: 
- People from the NGOs do not believe that we can change smth.
with our campaign and they are not motivated to participate.
So we need to attract and motivate more people for our
campaign.
- we should connect the media and the experts, so that the
experts opinion can be heard by the public. In this way the
people will accept more seriously our actions.
- to organize a public discussions about Belene with all
objective arguments "for" and "against" the construction.
- to make a video film which can be presented by the tv and
distributed in the country

Our main goal is to overcome the human disbelief and lack of
information and force them to participate actively in such
decision like the construction of a new NPP. How is it possi-
ble to achieve this?

For more information and contacts: 

Parchevich street N.30
Sofia 1000
Bulgaria
tel:00359 2 88 01 07
fax:00359 2 81 92 90

hatha valakinek kedve van egy kicsit sri lankara kiruccanni konzultalni....

diana
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Consultancy on Valuation of Biodiversity in Sri Lanka

The Terms of Reference of the Strategy for the Preparation of a
Biodiversity Action Plan for Sri Lanka calls for a Consultancy to:
"Develop criteria for the valuation of biodiversity and make
recommendations to incorporate these criteria into the national
development, accounting and planning system."

Although economists and planners in Sri Lanka are familiar with the
theory of environmental economics and the valuation of non-market goods,
few have experience in applying these theories and methods. This is
particularly true in the area of biodiversity.

In light of this situation, a Consultancy is sought. The Consultant will
suggest strategies and specific techniques for the valuation of
biodiversity in Sri Lanka. In cooperation with local counterparts, he/she
will design approaches for valuation of biodiversity under 2 case
studies. He/she will also develop a framework for the medium-to-long term
institutionalization of biodiversity valuation in national planning.

The Consultant should have a thorough and up-to-date knowledge of the
theory and practice of biodiversity valuation. He/she will preferably
have experience in applying these methods in Asia.

The Consultant's time will be allocated as follows: 6 days preparation; 2
days travel; 15 working days in country; 5 days after departure. The
total number of days is thus 28.

If you are interested in being considered for this position or know of
someone who may be interested, please send an email with a brief note on
relevant qualifications, experiences and contact details to:

Frank Vorhies
Environmental Economist
The Biodiversity Programme
IUCN - The World Conservation

Kedves Gyuri!

Nem tudom mennyire kiserted figyelemmel a greiswaldi esemenyeket. A
tortenetnek az is resze, hogy Greiswaldban nem csupan a Greenpeace aktivistai
demonstraltak, hanem az eromu kornyeken lakok is, akik vallaltak volna annak
veszelyet, hogy alig hasznalt futoelemek kozvetlen kozeleben eljenek a
tovabbiakban is. 
Az sem teljesen koztudott, hogy sehol a vilagon nem volt meg arra pelda, hogy
egy eromuben mar hasznalt futoelemet elszallitsanak egy masik eromube. 
Ha Nemetorszag "szemetbe dobta volna" a futoelemeket, akkor annyi lett volna
a kulonbseg, hogy fizetnek ezert egy rakas penzt, eme osszegert azonban
biztonsagosan lett volna elhelyezve a futoelem. Igy mi lesz? Amint
elhasznalodtak viszik Oroszorszagban, ahol koztudottan nincsen megteremtve a
vegleges elhelyezes lehetosege, az ideiglenes tarolas pedig nem a
legbiztonsagosabb. 
Bocs, hogy beleszoltam vitatokba, de ezt fontosnak ereztem kozolni.

UdV

Zoli