TODAY 27.03.2003 Parliament of Moldova - transit country for Russian-Bulgarian nuclear transports - will discuss ratification of the agreement on nuclear transportation between Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria. Once ratified in Moldova, the agreement allow nuclear waste transports through four countries during next 10 years.

Nearly 100 representatives of environmental groups from Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, also several members of European Parliament, urged Moldova' parliamentarians to reject the agreement on nuclear transportation. Campaign of faxes and e-mails to Moldova' Parliament organized by Russian Ecodefense and Moldovian SalvaEco environmental groups is running since Monday, March 24.

"Ratification of the agreement on nuclear transportation may lead to serious environmental and security problems as for Moldova as for Russia. Trains with nuclear waste are vulnerable to terrorist attack. Moreover, transportation creates numerous opportunities for theft of radioactive material that may lead to nuclear proliferation", - reads the statement addressed to Moldova' Parliament.

"For Russia the import of nuclear waste only means new threats to the environment and public health. According to UN experts, "Mayak" facility, reprocessing spent fuel in Russia, is the most contaminated with radiation place on Earth. Nearly 90% of Russian citizens opposed to the import of spent nuclear fuel, but Russian authorities ignored that. We ask you give no support for anti-democratic action of Russian government and reject proposed agreement on nuclear transportation", - reads the statement.

In 1998, Moldova' Parliament rejected the agreement on nuclear transportation. As a result of it, transportation of Bulgarian radioactive waste to Russia was suspended between 1998 and 2001.

According to Russian Ministry of atomic power of Russia (Minatom), scheme to import nuclear waste may bring about $20 billion to national budget. After legislation on import of nuclear waste was adopted by Russian authorities in June 2001, Minatom was unable to find new customers for its waste service. In the past, Russia charged for $620 per kilo of imported Bulgarian nuclear waste. Russia's only nuclear reprocessing plant "Mayak" needs fundamental reconstruction worth of $400-600 million. According "Mayak" director Vitaly Sadovnikov, if that funds not found, "Mayak" would close down in 3-5 years.

"Bringing nuclear waste from Bulgaria to Russia means that train would make several thousands of kilometers through four countries which keep its railroads in bad technical condition. Usually, these countries offer poorly trained guard that never dealt with nuclear materials. All that increases the threat of accident with radioactive release during nuclear transportation. Moreover, trains carrying nuclear waste are vulnerable to theft and terrorist attack", - said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman for Ecodefense, Russian group that organizes the fax attack on Moldova' Parliament.

"Minatom continue the import and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel in Russia which leads to increased stockpiles of plutonium. Taking into account the vulnerability of Russian storages to theft, reprocessing may result in proliferation of nuclear materials. It already resulted in wide environmental degradation and poor public health in several Russian regions. Reprocessing is environmentally harmful, economically unprofitable and politically controversial, it must be halted", - said Vladimir Slivyak.