Brazil's Federal Public Ministry Tuesday called for the suspension of the bidding process for an environmental license to build another nuclear power station in the country.
The ministry (ombudsman's office) said the process had so far been "rushed and chaotic."
The process violated the law and denied people the right to express an opinion, the ministry told Eletronuclear, the company which is bidding for the license, and which manages Brazil's two existing nuclear power stations.
The company is also in charge of the 3.65-billion-U.S.-dollar project to build the Angra III power station, in the town of Angrados Reis.
The ministry said the Brazilian Environmental Agency had yielded to Eletronuclear's pressure to speed up the license process.
The Brazilian government considered the nuclear plant essential to avoiding energy shortages after 2011, but the plans have met strong opposition from environmentalists.
In addition to the nuclear power plant, the government plans to build two new hydroelectric stations on the Madeira and Tocantins Rivers in a bid to avoid a repeat of the widespread power shortages in 2001 and 2002.
