The legacy of Chernobyl continues to loom over Europe. It has been over fifteen years since the devastating accident of April 26, 1986 spewed ten tons of radioactive dust, causing the evacuation of 116,000 inhabitants in a 40-mile-wide circle surrounding Chernobyl. A concrete-and-steel sarcophagus shields the remains of reactor number four -- and an estimated 140 tons of uranium fuel remains melded to the rubble. Though severely disabled and dangerously unstable, a portion of the Chernobyl plant is still operational today. Safely replacing needed energy and shutting the plant down is a project that deeply concerns neighboring countries and the world.

Ten years ago, Ukraine began building two new nuclear power plants in the nearby towns of Khmelnicky and Rovno. Construction was halted, however, due to public opposition and lack of funding. Potential funders insisted that public concerns be considered and opposition viewpoints about any potentially harmful environmental effects be heard. Such public oversight needed to occur in the country receiving financial assistance, as well as in all other potentially affected countries. In Hungary, independent environmental organizations and the Ministry of Environmental Protection turned to Partners-Hungary to rescue the foundering and controversial public oversight process.

Fearful of deadly environmental contamination from radioactive cesium 137 and its long-term health effects, citizens were demanding a voice in the Ministry's planning sessions. When the Ministry scheduled a hearing in the eastern city of Nyiregyhaza, far away from the media and public eye, environmental groups ardently objected to the choice of venue, inadequate publicity for the meeting, and failure to provide the public with any independent information or analysis in Hungarian about the new power plants. Partners-Hungary was called upon to facilitate discussions between these passionate groups and the Ministry. The first step was to develop a mutually acceptable public deliberation process, during which the parties agreed to move the hearing to Budapest and to initiate a public information campaign, providing detailed written information in Hungarian.

Once in Budapest, over 100 citizens and environmental experts, representatives of the Hungarian Ministry and Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection, funding representatives, and officials from Energoatom, the Ukrainian developer, attended the assembly hearing, facilitated by Partners-Hungary. The public seized the opportunity to pose some difficult questions to the developers and voice their opposition. Ukrainian proponents of the new plants argued that the economic and energy needs of the region required new plants before the aging and dangerous graphite-core reactors of Chernobyl could be put to sleep. Citizens, in turn, cited the potential hazards – pointing out the more than 800 cases of thyroid cancer reported in children from the Chernobyl region – and argued that a single accident could change the landscape and pattern of life for generations to come.

While the debate on energy needs and resources continues, Partners-Hungary and the public hearing participants were satisfied that, despite numerous obstacles, citizens were able to exercise their right to speak out, and in doing so, perhaps help exorcise the haunting memory of Chernobyl.