Greenpeace demands government to withdraw from Paks deal with Rosatom

(MTI) – Greenpeace is calling on the Hungarian government to withdraw from the “pact” signed with Rosatom and the Russian state, the organisation said on Monday.

According to a Greenpeace report entitled Rosatom Risks, “Rosatom, and its predecessors, have had serious and widespread corruption problems, likely due, at least in part, to the structural lack of transparency and external accountability.”

Citing Rosatom figures, the report states that in 2012 the company received 2.97 billion euros from the Russian federal budget and indirect subsidies as well.

According to Greenpeace, Rosatom’s activities have seriously damaged the environment and the health of the people living close to Rosatom’s facilities. Near the Mayak nuclear waste disposal unit in Muslimovo, there have been four times as many cases of cancer and 25 times as many cases of genetic disorders than in other parts of Russia, it added.

Greenpeace is therefore calling on the Hungarian government to stop all transports to Mayak and withdraw from the planned expansion of the Paks nuclear power station. It is also calling on the National Atomic Energy Office, the government organisations involved and both companies of the Paks nuclear power station to publish any proof showing that no radioactive pollution reached the environment during the reprocessing of damaged and spent nuclear fuel rods transported from Hungary to the Russian facility, the organisation added.

For the full Greenpeace report on Rosatom, visit http://www.greenpeace.org/hungary/PageFiles/636986/rosatom_risks.pdf.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters