Party Leader compares transparency of Brazil's nuclear program to that of Iran
The leader of the PV, Deputy Edson Duarte (BA), questioned on Thursday (3rd) whether it is worthwhile for Brazil to expand the use of nuclear energy. According to the deputy, the nuclear program in Brazil follows the same model of transparency of countries like Iran and Pakistan and must be reviewed urgently.
Iran, especially, is developing a secret nuclear program and has consistently refused to open its installations to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is linked to the United Nations.
The Deputy’s warning comes in a moment when Brazil is planning to create a new regulatory agency for the sector, next year. The establishment of the National Nuclear Energy Agency is under review by the ministries of Mines and Energy, Defense and the Environment.
On Thursday, members of the Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development met with representatives of the Federal Government to discuss some points of the proposal even before it has been sent to the National Congress. After being analyzed by the ministries, it must still be approved by the Civil Office of the Presidency and therefore has no date set for arriving in Congress.
State secret
Edson Duarte agrees with the creation of an agency, since it guarantees citizens the information that is of interest to the population, but to which the people never have access because this kind of information is treated as a state secret.
"Many accidents have occurred and even the authorities, much less the population, have not been notified of these facts", says the Deputy. According to him, in the most important national uranium mine, located in Caetité (BA), which produces 400 tons of uranium a year in Caetité [repetição?], for example, several incidents and accidents have occurred and none of the local authorities were notified of the fact.
"The legislation establishes that this [the reporting of accidents] should be done. So what we want is for the creation of the agency not to commit the same error, the same defect, which is to treat everything as secret ", added Duarte.
Incompatible roles
At the meeting on Thursday with members of Congress, the Prosecutor of Solicitor-General’s Office who is linked to the National Nuclear Energy Comission (CNEN), Luciano Santanna, explained that currently the Committee meets two roles that do not match.
In addition to coordinating scientific research involving radiation for areas such as medicine, the committee must supervise the operation of nuclear plants in the country and also monitor about 3,700 companies that are working with radiation in some way.
For Luciano Santanna, this confusion must be resolved because Brazil will need increasingly more power over the coming decades. "There is governmental interest in increasing nuclear activity in view of the need for greater energy production in the country, which is related to economic development and to population increase."
The Prosecutor considers nuclear power to be a stable source of energy. "It is independent of climate and does not generate great impacts on the environment, like other forms of energy". For him, this energy is the one that does least harm to the environment.
Reporting - Juliano Pires
Edition - Newton Araújo
Translation – Adriana Resende