A Federal Orphan

"I hope you will understand our worries over the potential dangers, as well as your responsibilities if due to any reasons at all you fail to disclose information and do not point out the necessary measures to prevent a disaster which could acquire catastrophic dimensions." This was written by the President of the Belgrade City Hall Spasoje Krunic in a letter to the Institute for Nuclear Sciences in Vinca on March 18 in which, following up on the stories reported in the media, he demands the Institute to inform the Belgrade Assembly in detail on the type and amount of nuclear waste and nuclear fuel which is deposited there. It would be highly commendable if the city assembly was to look into the problem of inadequately storaged radioactive waste in Vinca on which VREME reported at great length in its previous issue, which would probably ascertain that Vinca is not hiding the problem (the same day when Krunic had written a letter to the Institute, a public meeting on that subject was held at the Institute), as well as that Vinca cannot resolve it on its own. Responsibility in this case has its own name, which is the federal government, i.e. Nikola Sainovic. Taking into account that the entire nuclear problem falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government and that the vice president of the government Sainovic is also the president of the Federal Committee for Nuclear Energy, we addressed his cabinet last week requesting that he answer the following questions: is the federal government acquainted with the problem of dangerous radioactive waste in Vinca; did the Committee for Nuclear Sciences hold a meeting on that occasion, when and with what conclusions; shall the government procure 150 thousand dollars for improving the conditions of temporary storing of the refuse and finally, has any research been conducted on possible consequences of a nuclear explosion or creation of a radioactive bubble upon the health of the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia? Despite the promises that those questions would be answered in a competent manner, if not by the over-worked Sainovic then by the Minister of Commerce Rade Filipovic (under whose jurisdiction nuclear energy is placed), up to the moment when this VREME issue was going to press no such answer arrived, least of all a competent one.

In the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia, public responsibility is comprehended in a different manner: we were scheduled to meet with the minister in less than 24 hours.

On the question as to how to eliminate the danger of an ecological catastrophe which could be caused by the inadequate storing of the radioactive nuclear waste in Vinca, the Republican Minister of Ecology Jordan Aleksic clearly stated: "The state must take over the management of the refuse, including the waste of high ecological risk."

The question as to what state requires a lengthier story.

The Ministry of Ecology of Serbia, as Aleksic reminds us, has monitored Vinca in detail in June 1996 ("you journalists have uncovered this problem with a one-year delay", he adds). Having ascertained that a problem exists there of waste with the most dangerous reference, it was demanded that a meeting of the federal government be convened - since the Institute in Vinca is a federal institution - with the compulsory presence of the representatives of the republican ministries. Apart from the fact that the government had declared that demand as a state secret, until now nothing happened. Jordan Aleksic qualified this as "unforgivable". The main obstacle of removing the radioactive waste from Vinca is, according to minister Aleksic's opinion- inertia rather than lack of funds.

However, the Institute in Vinca - where nuclear waste has been piling and has been inadequately stored for decades - has remained under the jurisdiction of the federal government, although in practice it stands as Serbia's problem.

If we are talking of security, the Serbian minister of ecology comments and speculates on the dangers that even an atomic bomb could be made from Vinca's uranium: "The hypothetical guess-work about the bomb is a product of our current political crisis mania. The main problem was accurately pointed out in VREME's last issue - and that is the problem of managing the refuse".

However, continues the republican minister of ecology, no one shall be happy if any kind of misfortune falls upon us due to the inadequately storaged waste, followed by discussions on whether it is under the jurisdiction of the federal government or the Institute.

The republican government says Aleksic has recently repeated its demand to the federal government to convene a session regarding Vinca. In the Ministry of Ecology of Serbia they believe that the political electoral procedure, i.e. the constitution of a new federal government, has once again postponed the whole thing. Minister Aleksic answers the direct question of - whether there is any kind of collaboration with the federal government concerning the dangerous radioactive waste in Vinca - with: "On this just like on any other issue there is no collaboration. We couldn't even manage to organize a joint meeting with the Ministry of Science, Development and Protection of the Environment, let alone concrete projects."

The lack of clear jurisdiction is also illustrated by the fact that, according to the law, the Federal Ministry of Commerce is in charge of nuclear problems and is preparing, so to say, all information for the federal Committee for Nuclear Energy, ecology has been placed alongside science, while a part of the task of protection from ion radiation belongs to the Ministry of Health.

Academic Milutin Garasanin, archeologist

"The problem surrounding the radiation which has cropped up in Vinca definitely presents one of the most serious and difficult questions - in case what we have read in the press is really true. What we are talking about is an occurrence which stands as a consequence of previous causes: namely, was it really necessary to open up such an institute for atomic science in those days. Was the decision properly designed and reconsidered? Did it need to be opened in the vicinity of Belgrade? Does the Institute stand a chance to survive in the future? Can it be properly financed? What does such an institution demand? I believe it was all conducted without proper deliberation, in a similar fashion to the way in which universities and schools were opened in other socialist countries without a library and basic working space, with "substitute" professors and lack of appropriate classes.

However, the institute was established, consequences ensued and now the question is how to remove them. The problem is of such magnitude that it demands a serious intervention of political and scientific elements and a serious financial intervention, since we are not dealing with a passing problem but rather with something which could endanger the population especially of the capital city. An appropriate intervention of the international political elements is also needed, since narrow bureaucratic decisions and covering up shall be of least help here."

Academic Zvonko Maric, physicist

We are objectively dealing not with a single but rather a whole number of problems - that is, of the entire nuclear complex. The first problem is of the enriched fuel in Vinca, the second is of the reactor's used up fuel storage, the third problem is low radioactive waste, the fourth is the reactor itself. The nuclear problem has been neglected here to a great degree. Seven or eight years ago I worked in a commission which researched claims on a higher level of radioactivity in Serbia. Higher radiation did not exist then, however we used the opportunity to point out a solution. We worked extremely studiously. We suggested that referential laboratories should be opened and a nuclear inspection established - which would, amongst other things, supervise the transport of nuclear materials in the country since all borders are open, as well as forming a clear hierarchy of relations in order to ascertain who is superior to whom and who is subordinated. We encountered a chaotic case of jurisdiction, and we had a formation of hierarchical relations in mind following the Scandinavian countries model. I have no idea what the fate of that document was, whether it was reviewed anywhere ever or whether any measures were taken from it.