ALL INSTITUTIONS UNANIMOUS: CONSTRUCTION OF NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY ON TRGOVSKA GORA UNACCEPTABLE

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 12 /SRNA/ - The position of all institutions in Republika Srpska, the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, and at the level of BiH is that it is unacceptable for Croatia to build a radioactive waste repository at the Trgovska Gora site, emphasized Borislav Bojić, coordinator of the Legal and Expert Team for Trgovska Gora.

"Our task is to use all available means to prevent Croatia from building a nuclear facility there, as it would be a disaster for 250,000 residents of the western part of Republika Srpska", Bojić told SRNA.

Bojić pointed out that Croatia has not drafted a regulatory plan, nor has it submitted to BiH an environmental impact study, which it was obliged to do under international conventions, adding that statements by certain Croatian officials expressing satisfaction with the pace of construction of the nuclear waste repository amount to a form of propaganda.

"They are trying to convince both their own and the wider public that they are making progress, while ignoring international conventions", Bojić said.

He believes that ignoring international conventions will not be supported by any country, as introducing a precedent that allows the construction of nuclear facilities in border areas is unacceptable for any state.

Bojić added that Croatia is now claiming it will not build a nuclear waste repository but a storage facility instead, since, under international conventions, the conditions for a storage facility are completely different from those for a repository.

"They announced that the site covers 60 hectares, and in my opinion, this is preparation for the construction of a much larger nuclear waste facility, which, according to their plans, would in the future include a greater number of European countries that face serious problems with nuclear waste disposal", Bojić said.

According to him, this is also unacceptable for the citizens of Croatia for several reasons, one of them being that nuclear waste would be transported by road through Croatian cities.

"They describe the area as seismically safe, but don’t you remember the terrible earthquake that recently struck Petrinja? The area is prone to seismic activity. Secondly, near the Mlakve spring in the vicinity of Novi Grad, they are endangering 250,000 people in BiH. On the Croatian side, there is the town of Dvor na Uni with around 2,000 inhabitants, most of them elderly", Bojić said, adding that Croatia was acting unfairly.

Bojić also emphasized that domestic experts, as well as a French legal and expert group, are engaged in addressing this issue and are currently analyzing all the wrong moves made by Croatia.

"And in that regard, we will carry out the activities that are available to us", Bojić said.

He announced that representatives from BiH and Croatia will soon be invited to Geneva, where Espoo Convention officials will pose questions to both sides.

"As for the focal point for the Espoo Convention in BiH, that is the Ministry of Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska. Therefore, we will be fully involved in that part of the activities", Bojić said.