External report

Environmental Defense reviews the World Bank's Operations Evaluations Department's assessment of the Lao government's weak public management performance and the implications for Nam Theun 2 revenue management.

"Nam Theun 2 is the Laotian version of Thailand’s infamous Pak Mun Dam. UnlikePak Mun, which kills fish and other aquatic organisms only in one river, the Mun, NamTheun 2 hydropower project is brilliantly designed to kill them in three separate rivers: NamTheun, Xe Bang Fai, and Nam Hinboun. No matter how badly Nam Theun 2 turns out,however, the World Bank predictably will represent it as another one of its success stories."

A discussion paper by Shalmali Guttal and Bruce Shoemaker.

A paper by TERRA that explains the likely impacts of Nam Theun 2 on the Xe Bang Fai. If built, the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project in Lao PDR would: completely change the flow of the Xe Bang Fai Rivercause severe impacts on the abundant fisheries and other resources that arefundamental to the food security of hundreds of communitiescause severe impacts on the livelihoods, food security and economy of between 50,000 to 120,000 people living in the Xe Bang Fai River Basin.

Trip report from visit by Amis de la Terre (France), the Bank Information Center (USA), Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale (Italy), and Environmental Defense (USA) to the Nam Theun 2 project site.

A Survey of River-Based Livelihoods in the Xe Bang Fai River Basin in Central Lao PDRBy Bruce Shoemaker, Ian G. Baird and Monsiri Baird

This paper was prepared as a submission to the Fourth Regional Consultation of the World Commission on Dams in Hanoi.

This study was prepared by the Theun–Hinboun Power Company’s fisheries specialist, Terry Warren. The Theun-Hinboun Power Company and Asian Development Bank refused to publish this study, presumably because they were not happy with its results and recommendations.

An independent review of the "Economic Impact Study of Nam Theun 2 Dam Project" prepared by Louis Berger International, Inc.

The document entitled Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project Environmental Assessment and Management Plan (EAMP) - Draft Final Report 1997 has been reviewed in regards to the potential impacts related to environmental and economic impacts and the proposed mitigation measures. The review concludes that the EAMP provides a great deal of information but does not clearly describe the potential risks to the ecosystems or people of Laos.