Czech Utility CEZ Loading Nuclear Fuel Into Temelin Plant

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Czech Utility CEZ Loading Nuclear Fuel Into Temelin Plant

Prague, July 7 (Bloomberg) -- CEZ AS, the main Czech power utility, 
began loading nuclear fuel into Temelin, its second nuclear plant, a 
combination of Russian and Western technology that's taken more than 
a decade to complete. 

The company expects to complete loading the fuel cells into the first 
block within about two weeks, and activate the fuel in about two 
months, performing a series of tests, said Milan Nebesar, press 
spokesman of Temelin. CEZ began loading the fuel on Wednesday, hours 
after it received permission from the Czech Office for Nuclear 
Safety. By October or November the company expects to start supplying 
a limited amount of power to the grid. 

``Full commercial operations should begin in spring next year,'' 
Nebesar said. 

Environmental groups such as Greenpeace as well as government 
officials from neighboring Austria criticized CEZ, which is 67.6 
percent government-owned, for completing the Temelin plant, 
originally started during communist times. The plant, situated about 
90 kilometers south of Prague and 70 kilometers north of the border 
with Austria, incorporates technology supplied by Westinghouse Corp. 
into the original Soviet design. 

Ecological activists protested outside the plant, painting hundreds 
of ``NO'' signs on the ground in front of Temelin's headquarters, 
local media reported. 

CEZ already operates one nuclear plant, in Dukovany in the southeast 
of the country. 

Separately, Jaroslav Mil, formerly of Elektrarny Opatovice AS, 
another Czech utility, became CEZ's new board chairman and general 
director following a reshuffle that replaced three members of the 
board of directors. 

The reshuffle followed an appointment of new supervisory board at 
CEZ's shareholders' meeting Tuesday, where shareholders agreed to 
boost the supervisory board's power to allow it to appoint the board 
of directors. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html