By Altin Fuga
afuga@tiranatimes.com
Tirana, 1 April 2008. In an interview in the Italian daily, Il Sole 24 ORE, former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, Giulio Tremonti called for the building of nuclear power stations on the other side of the Adriatic. “Until now we have relocated job places, why not relocate the nuclear facilities to keep our local jobs?” asked Tremonti. Giulio Tremonti expressed his apprehension that Italy was losing jobs and its competitive edge because it lacked the necessary energy resources.
Only 12 percent of the EU public supports nuclear power
For the moment, nuclear revival carries seeds of division both between and inside member states of the European Union. A green paper drafted by the European Commission last year stated, “choices made by one member state inevitably have an impact on the energy security of its neighbours and of the community as a whole, as well as on competitiveness and environment”.
Just 12 percent of the EU public supports nuclear power, with support at 5 percent or less in Denmark, Slovenia, Portugal, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Malta.
However, the EU plans to spend 4.8 billion on nuclear research in 2007-2013, while the UK, France, Finland, the Baltic States and EU candidate Turkey have all signalled they want to boost nuclear energy use.
The Italian case is different from France, with its long experience with nuclear energy, and Finland, which simply seems to love technology. The support for a nuclear power station in Italy is extremely low, the Italian bureaucratic procedures are excruciating, to say the least, and the Italians consider themselves world champions in cutting corners. In an interview with Reuters in January 2008, Davide Tabarelli, president of the Nomisma Energia think tank said, “In Italy we have a culture of distrust of modern technologies, in industrialisationŠThere is a strong negative attitude towards any industrial project נbe it a regasification terminal, an incinerator or a waste dump, let alone a nuclear plant… It is impossible to relaunch nuclear in this country”.
Tremonti Scheme, Albania Numero Uno
The plan envisaged by Tremonti aims to bypass the Italian referendum and public resistance, and to build nuclear plants in neighbouring countries facing the Adriatic Sea like Albania or Montenegro. Tremonti did not specify which country or counties he had in mind. However, he declared that there were volunteers on the other side of the Adriatic. “Information circulating in international sets shows that countries on the other side of the Adriatic are open to set up nuclear joint ventures. It seems to me that all geopolitical premises are there for success”, said Tremonti.
However, it is not difficult to guess that Albania is the fist country on that list. Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, launched the idea of nuclear power stations last November after a meeting with representatives of the Westinghouse and Camozzi Holding. In that meeting, Mr. Berisha declared that his government was preparing the necessary legal and institutional framework in close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Berisha said, “The Albanian Government considers nuclear energy as part of its efforts to diversify its energy resources. In the future, we aim to turn Albania into the centre of energy production and exportation in the region”.
Nuclear Campaign in Albania
Further, the Italians are moving ahead and building support for their project. Last month, the Italian Embassy in Tirana organised an international conference entitled, “Energy, Production, Distribution, and Research”. According to their press release, the participants, including representatives of academia, state departments and others, met to review new energy sources. They debated several possibilities, but concluded that the building of the “nuclear power plant” is going to eliminate the dependency of both countries on their traditional energy sources and imported energy. The press release implied that ‘beneficial to both countries’ was the key phrase, because Italia had already pledged its support to built a nuclear power plant in Albania.
Petrolifera, Opposition and Referendum, or Who Should Decide
Huge oil and gas storage facilities, a gas powered thermo-electric power plant and later, even industrial facilities and a terminal for the AMBO oil and gas pipeline, are planned to be built in Vlora.
Vlora citizens organised a group called the Alliance for the Protection of Vlora Bay and opposed the project right from its beginning in 2003. They demanded the right to call a local referendum, a right rejected by the Socialist government, but supported vigorously by Berisha, then in opposition. However, once in power, Berisha forgot promises he made to the citizens of Vlora and gave permission to proceed.
Therefore, Albania is number one on Tremonti’s list. It is not a matter of ecology and environment; it is a mater of Albanian democracy. It has to do with the Albanian politicians and their way of policing the country and dealing with popular resistance. Who should decide? The politicians who change their position as often as they change their shirts? Or the people who have Petrolifera in their backyard?
G쳤eci as a Symptom of the Albanian Reality
Prime Minister Berisha mocked the opposition to the Vlora industrial complex as some kind of Albanian Amish community or the soldiers of General Ludd. Well, they are not actually. They are not Luddites and they do not fear technology, industry, and development. They fear G쳤eci, 27 dead, 2 still missing and 300 wounded. They fear that dreadful mixture of greed and Albanian practicality. They fear greed, greed that pays no respect for the lives of people. People who worked at G쳤eci ammunition facility for a few dollars. They fear practicality, which means something different than pragmatism, in Albanian. It is a total neglect of rules, regulations, and caution. It is something that one of our commentators described as systemic recklessness articulated in the expression, “Don’t worry”. And, they fear unresponsive and irresponsible political structures, weak and incompetent state institutions, and lack of government control.
Italian Referendum on Nuclear Energy
Italy organised a referendum on the use of nuclear energy on 8-9 November 1987, right after the Chernobyl disaster. 65 percent of those who had the right to vote (almost 30 million Italians out of nearly 46 million) participated in the referendum.
The Italians were not asked directly if they supported the use of nuclear energy. The questions were:
Do you want to abrogate the rule that gives to the Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning the right to decide about the construction place for nuclear power plants if the local authorities fail to decide before the deadline? 80 percent voted yes.
Do you want to abrogate the rule that compensates Italian communes, which accept to host a nuclear power plant in their territory? Almost 80 percent voted yes.
Do you want to abrogate the rule that allows ENEL (Italian power enterprise) to participate in international agreement about constructing nuclear power plants abroad? 70 percent voted yes.
