[Campaign update] MEP Rebecca Harms criticises Ukrainian nuclear operator for its lawsuit against activists

This article first appeared in Ukrainian on radiosvoboda.org. It was translated and reprinted with kind permission.

The member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms called Energoatom’s lawsuit against the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine (NECU) ‘nonsense’. The Ukrainian state nuclear operator filed a lawsuit against the civil society organisation because of the organisation’s conclusions on the condition of the second reactor of the South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant.

In her comment to Radio Liberty the MEP stated:

"I consider this matter strange. I said this to Energoatom representatives and I had a meeting with Ms. Vronska (Deputy Minister of Ecology covering for European integration - ed.) on this issue. I will also speak about it with the Minister of Energy. This matter is nonsense. Discussion is needed instead. The real issue is whether all the upgrades have been completed for this reactor of the South-Ukrainian NPP, which are required to extend its lifetime," said Harms who is the Co-President of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance in the European Parliament.

"It is normal in my country, Germany, or any other EU country, that non-governmental organisations accuse state authorities who are responsible for the safety of nuclear facilities of failure to do their job. After that, the authorities, minister, companies in the area of nuclear energy response to these challenges and present their arguments. But I cannot remember that something like a press release provided the basis for court proceedings like in the case against the National Ecological Center," added the MEP.

At the end of August 2015, the National Ecological Center of Ukraine (NECU) was notified about the lawsuit from Energoatom filed against it. According to the environmentalists, the reason for the suit was NECU's press release from May. It stated that the condition of the second power unit of the South-Ukrainian NPP failed to meet the requirements for its further safe operation.

Energoatom states that the information distributed by the activists is factually wrong.

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