Protesters to set up 'anti-nuclear power camp' protest

"The purpose of the camp is primarily education and raising awareness of the dangers of nuclear power plant construction,” Greenpeace's Katarzyna Guzek has told the PAP news agency.

“It is important for us to integrate the anti-atomic movement and exchange our experiences,” she adds.

The activists from Poland will be joined by those from Belarus, Romania and Germany, and will sleep in tents on a field provided by a local farmer.

During the day, environmentalists and representatives of local and coastal communities are scheduled to lecture about what they claim are potential dangers of nuclear power and will promote alternative energy sources.

“There are indications that this investment will be unprofitable,” claims spokeswoman Guzek.

“The market itself and the Polish economy will make it unlikely that Poland to tap into nuclear energy," she added.

The camp will end with an anti-nuclear demonstration in Gdansk on Sunday, 29 July.

Meanwhile, Poland's Treasury Minister Mikołaj Budzanowski said at the weekend that state-backed mining company KGHM will join energy firms Tauron, PGE and Enea to co-finance Poland's first nuclear power plant, scheduled to come on line after 2020.

The nuclear power programme is part of Poland's strategy of weaning itself off its reliance on Russian gas and oil and meeting the the EU's carbon emission targets.

Currently, 80 percent of Poland's energy needs come from coal. (pg/aba)