NPP in Slovakia - press

["Tsurikov, Nick" <nick.tsurikov@iluka.com>]

Dear Radsafers,

Recently The Prague Post published an article about the Bohunice Nuclear
Power Plant in Slovakia.  The article itself was the 'usual' one, as you may
imagine.  What is interesting - in Wednesday paper has published the reply
from the Plant and their comment on it (no so usual event).  They are
presented below for your information (the address is
http://www.praguepost.cz/opin011200c.html
<http://www.praguepost.cz/opin011200c.html> ).

Kind regards
Nick Tsurikov
Eneabba, Western Australia
Nick.tsurikov@iluka.com <mailto:Nick.tsurikov@iluka.com> 
World Collection of Radiation Links:
http://eneabba.net/ <http://eneabba.net/> 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wednesday, January 12, 2000 

The Bohunice debate 

To the Editor:

We have read the two articles on the Bohunice nuclear power plants [NPPs],
"Trouble under the cooling towers" and "Bohunice nuclear power plants face
possible closure," [Nov. 24-30, 1999] written by Elizabeth Weinstein and
Ivan Remias.

We are sorry that the intention of your journalists' visit to the Bohunice
NPPs, which was to show them the real situation and the real state of the
plant, resulted in their emotional description of a so-called "Star Trek"
crew operating the "Starship Enterprise."

In addition, we are sorry to inform you that the information in your
articles is not based on fact, and a lot of it seems to be developed in the
imagination of the authors or in their careless observation during the plant
visit.

Here are some factual examples:

*	Safety is the primary issue for people here, as well as for the
NPPs' management and the employees who live in the neighborhood.

*	The nearest large city is Trnava, 17 kilometers [11 miles] away.

*	Jozef Blazek is not assistant to Bohunice's director; he is an
assistant to the director of the Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Fuel
Treatment Facility.

*	Alexander Toth is not the director of Bohunice's nuclear and
radiation safety department. He is the director of the nuclear and radiation
safety department at Slovenske elektrarne, a joint-stock company with
headquarters in Bratislava.

It is very superficial and shocking to mix up units 1 and 2 of [reactor] V1
with the V1 and V2 plants after such a long visit. [Slovak Prime Minister
Mikulas Dzurinda] has never pledged to shut down both V1 and V2 by 2008.
This date concerns only the V1 plant.

We consider the comparison of the plant names (V1 and V2) to Nazi Germany's
lethal World War II rockets as unprofessional and offensive for those who
work at the Bohunice plants daily.

Finally, but no less importantly, is that Bohunice's nuclear power plants
have nothing in common with the plants at Chernobyl. The type of reactors
used in Bohunice is completely different. Although this was explained to
your journalists during their visit, they probably did not pay proper
attention to it.

We truly hope this information will be useful for your journalists and
readers when writing further on Bohunice. We hope you will verify the
"facts" you intend to use. Knowledge is a basic rule of good journalism.

Dobroslav Dobak
Foreign Affairs and Public Relations Department Head, Slovenske elektrarne
Jaslovske Bohunice, Slovakia


The Prague Post responds:

Mr. Dobak is right, of course, to point out errors, which we regret. The
uses of style, image and metaphor, however, are in the province of reporters
and editors, where they will remain. Had Mr. Dobak read carefully, he would
have noted that the jarring Star Trek analogy was juxtaposed immediately
with a reference to the plant's having "some of the most modern nuclear
safety devices on the planet." Though safety is no doubt a priority to
Bohunice's managers (something our articles never placed in doubt), our
reporters correctly represented occasional concerns expressed in the
vicinity of the plant. Regarding the inaccuracy in planned closing dates,
Mr. Dobak should be aware of reporting by the Slovak news agency SITA, which
does not distinguish between the two units of the V1 reactor and has
repeatedly reported that the Dzurinda government will proceed with the
phased shutdowns of both the V1 and V2 reactors, and not simply the two
units of V1, in 2006 and 2008. The European Union welcomed the news at the
time our stories were written.

Finally, no statement was made specifically comparing Bohunice's nuclear
facilities with those at Chernobyl. The debate, as is well known to nuclear
experts, concerns doubts over the integrity of plants built in the Soviet
era. This matter was amply described by our correspondents, and, while
regretting specific errors, we stand by the integrity of the full report.
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