Konstantin Zaytsev, Vice Chairman of State Duma Energy Committee

– NPP construction project must be maximally transparent and accessible for ordinary citizens

Sept 28 the Ekozaschita group and the Council of People’s Deputies of Murom held public hearings on the construction of Nizhniy Novgorod Nuclear Power Plant in Navashino district of Nizhniy Novgorod region. Ekozashita says that 98% of the participants said “no” to the project because, as they say, “nuclear waste will be released into Lake Svyato” and “the plant may have a negative effect on the psychical health of children.”

I can understand the concerns of ordinary citizens with respect to such a big and serious project. I can also understand why exactly the residents of Vladimir region are worried. Unlike their neighbors from Nizhniy Novgorod region, they have no nuclear companies in their territory. I would like to remind you that Nizhniy Novgorod region hosts Sarov Federal Nuclear Center, Afrikantov OKBM (a bureau designing nuclear reactors of submarines), a number of universities training specialists for the nuclear industry. That is, Nizhniy Novgorod has scientific-technical elite who perfectly knows what and how safe nuclear energy is. Nizhniy Novgorod region has an experience of NPP construction: in 1991 the local authorities suspended an almost 90%-ready project in response to post-Chernobyl moods. Since then Nizhniy Novgorod has been suffering from energy shortages. And today this problem constitutes the key obstacle to the region’s economic development.

Vladimir region does not have such a background. And this is the key reason why in Navashino 60% of people support the construction of Nizhniy Novgorod NPP while in neighboring Murov the opposition is prevalent. I think that this situation is an additional motive for Rosatom to intensify its information campaign. An NPP construction project must be maximally transparent and accessible for ordinary citizens. Here we can use different formats, particularly, the format of public control.

But there is one more important moment. I think that the situation in Murom has certain political implications. There are five districts around Navashino, four of them actively support the project and regard it as a stimulus for their economies and a way-out of the crisis and only one of them objects.

As regards the format of public hearings, we must understand that public hearings are an event clearly regulated by relevant legislation. There are specific rules protecting the will of ordinary citizens and stipulating that the opinion of all people participating in such discussions should be taken into consideration. The key word here is “all.” So, only irresponsible or politically motivated people can qualify a rally organized by a specific force as “public hearings.”