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First Annoucement, 25 October 2011
Experts, NGOs, politicians and the mass-media are invited to participate in the international conference “Nuclear power – Challenges for the Environment, Health, Economy and Legislation” in Vilnius, Lithuania, 6 - 8 December 2011.
The March 2011 accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant (NPP) in Japan renewed debate about the danger of nuclear power. More and more countries are phasing out nuclear power. However, the former Eastern Bloc countries Belarus, Lithuania and Russia continue to develop their nuclear power projects. At the same time incidents continue to occur, for example the contracting problems during the construction of Leningrad NPP-2.
At the conference environmentalists, biologists, medical doctors, economists, lawyers and other experts will discuss the key issues related to modern nuclear power as well as the influence of NPPs on society and nature in the light of the proposed construction of new NPPs in Belarus, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad region of Russia. Materials and conclusions presented will be discussed with politicians, representatives of civil society and the mass-media in the Baltic Sea region countries.
Goals
- identificaiton of the basic environmental, economic, socio-political and legal problems of nuclear power, e.g, nuclear waste management, the impact of routine and accidental emissions from NPPson human health and the environment, high costs of construction of nuclear power plants, uncertainty of economic indicators, problems with technical performance and legal standards in the design, construction and operation of nuclear power plants;
- raising the key issues of nuclear power for discussion in various sectors of society including those who influence the decision making process and mass media of the countries that are actively developing nuclear energy programs: Lithuania, Belarus and Russia;
- raising awareness about the key issues of nuclear power and its influence on health and the environment in the countries actively developing nuclear energy programs, and also about the current status of NPP projects in the region..
Co-organizers: Public Environmental Commission on the Belarus Nuclear Power Plant and Environment Impact Assessment, Atgaja (Lithuania).
Conference Committee: Atgaja (Lithuania), Public Association "Ecohouse" (Belarus), organizing Committee of the activist group "Scientists for a Nuclear-free Belarus", Belarusian Party "The Greens", "Women for Peace" (Finland), Milkas (Sweden), The Heinrich Boell Foundation (Germany), Green European Foundation and European Green Party.
Main Subjects of the Conference
1. Nuclear waste management problems
1.1. Disposal of nuclear waste: review and analysis of existing projects and practices.Acce-2, Morsleben, Gorleben (Germany), Onka (Finland), and the KBS-3 spent nuclear repository proposed for Forsmark, Sweden.
1.2. Storage of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Review and analysis of existing practices and related problems. Transportation of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.
2. Impacts of radiation releases on human health and the environment
2.1. The problem of assessing the impact of low doses of radiation: the ICRP and ECRR and models.
2.2. The impact of routine releases of radioactivity from nuclear facilities on human health and the environment. Health assessment of the population living in the areas adjacent to existing nuclear power plants.
2.3. The impact of emergency releases of radioactivity on human health and the environment. Consequences of the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophes.
3. Cost-effectiveness of nuclear power
3.1. Problems of economic calculations for existing and planned nuclear power plants.
3.2. The cost of nuclear electricity, quantity of nuclear electricity generation, current market conditions and forecast.
3.3. Problems related to sale and export of nuclear electricity.
Debate Themes
- Nuclear power, international law, human rights. Overview of the problems of implementing international environmental conventions (Aarhus and Espoo) and protection of human rights in nuclear power plant projects.
- Threats and risks of new NPPs in the Baltic Searegion: Ostrovets, Visaginas NPP and Baltic NPP.
Contact
Tatiana Novikova, Executive Secretary of the Public Environmental Commission on the Belarus Nuclear Power Plant and Conference Secretary
Phone: +375291065901, E-mail: novikova@gmail.com