Civil society involvement in informing population on potential risks of nuclear power

In 1977 the town Cernavoda, Romania has been selected for the construction of the first Romanian Nuclear Power Plant provided with five CANDU type reactors, planned, at that time, to cover one third of the country power demand. The first Cernavoda Unit has been commissioned on December 2, 1996. The paper presents the preoccupation of different non-governmental organizations with respect to the impact of the nuclear plant operation on the environment and public health and, more generally, of the Uranium mining, heavy water production plants and radioactive waste disposal problems. Such issues, concerning the the energy efficiency and the nuclear power problems in Romania were not exposed so far to the public debate and little, if any, reliable information was provided to the population. The paper stresses the role of civil society in informing population on the risks implied by the nuclear power projects. 2 refs