Press release - March 8, 2005
Greenpeace activist and leading nuclear opponent in Bulgaria, Albena Simeonova, has received threats on her life due to her public opposition to the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belene, north of the country. The environmental organisation, supported by other groups (1), calls on the Bulgarian Government to secure her safety and prevent these threats to happen again.
Simeonova,40,who is portrayed as an obstacle by the nuclear
industry's interests, started to receive anonymous calls at the end
of 2004. On February 23rd, two men showed up at her house door
issuing death threats if she refused to stop her resistance against
plans to build the nuclear power plant in Belene. The men also
warned her to leave the region of Nikopol, her homeland.
"This is not only a serious threat against my life, it
represents a threat to all who campaign against nuclear plants
trying to protect their lives and the local environment," said
Simeonova, who won the Goldman Award, dubbed as the Nobel Prize for
the Environment, in 1996.
Simeonova is one of the leaders of a strong movement in Bulgaria
that stopped plans for the construction of a nuclear power station
near Belene in the early 1990s. The building plans were revived in
2003, and she was one of the first people to ask attention for the
problems the project would create. She alerted national and
international organisations on the upcoming plans and since has
been one of the motors behind resistance against Belene.
"We are shocked to hear that her life is threatened due to her
opposition to this nuclear project. She is a pioneer for a clean
environment in Bulgaria. Belene is the real threat, not Albena
Simeonova. This plant is completely unnecessary for Bulgaria and
for the region," says Jan Haverkamp from Greenpeace
International
Bulgaria has one of the largest renewable energy resources in
the European Union, with massive potentials for wind energy, as
well as geothermal and hydropower. With its large agricultural
sector, Bulgaria could cover a significant part of its energy needs
with renewable energy. These clean energy sources are economic,
abundant, create thousands of jobs and pose no threat to human life
and the environment.
Greenpeace opposes the construction of the Belene reactors and
demands the Bulgarian Government to stop the production of nuclear
power. They will generate highly radioactive waste and put the
Bulgarian and European population at risk.
Notes: 1). Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth EuropeGreenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.