" Austria Urges Suspension At Czech Nuke Plant After Incident "

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@aecl.ca>]

http://www.centraleurope.com/czechtoday/news.php3?id=187216
Austria Urges Suspension At Czech Nuke Plant After Incident 
VIENNA, Aug 9, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Austrian Environment Minister
Wilhelm Molterer urged Czech authorities Tuesday to suspend testing of its
Temelin nuclear power station after an incident at the plant not far from
the Austrian border.
The plant, which was loaded with fuel last month and is set to start tests
soon in preparation for full scale operations beginning in the autumn, lies
50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border with fiercely anti-nuclear Austria.
Molterer appealed to Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart "to take the
necessary steps to put a stop to the trial run until every technical and
legal question has been discussed and a conclusive evaluation has been
undertaken", according to a ministry statement.
Austria last week demanded a comprehensive report after an oil spillage in a
non-nuclear area of the plant, which the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) described as "very minor".
The Czech government, whose country has suffered a slump in economic growth
in the last two years, is keen to press ahead with Temelin, holding out for
its privatization in the next few years.
Austria last year had a similar dispute with neighboring Slovakia over the
Mochovce nuclear plant, also not far >from the Austrian border, threatening
in vain to veto an EU invitation to begin membership talks with Bratislava.
The Temelin plant has two Russian-built VVER 1,000 megawatt reactors,
equipped with security and monitoring systems made by US firm Westinghouse.
((c) 2000 Agence France Presse) 

http://www.centraleurope.com/czechtoday/news.php3?id=186433
MLADA FRONTA DNES
Some tens of liters of oil leaked on Friday in the machinery hall of the
first reactor block of the Temelin nuclear power plant, and a smaller amount
got into the rainwater sewers. Everything remained on the facilities of the
power plant. Austria immediately reacted by repeating its demand for all
available technical information on Temelin.

Radio Prague E-News 
Date: August 9th, 2000
Temelin Austrian protests
With the nuclear power plant Temelin due to go into trial operation shortly,
the Austrian Greens are demanding that their country boycott Czech-energy
exports. The Green's spokesperson in Vienna, Eva Glawischnig, told newsmen
on Tuesday that a reliable Czech source had confirmed one of Temelin's
reactors would be activated next week, several weeks ahead of schedule , and
accused the Czech power giant CEZ of using the holiday season for the trial
operation in order to avoid uncomfortable questions. She insisted that "much
had yet to be explained" including the cause of last week's oil leak at
Temelin. CEZ has rejected the accusation, saying that the reactor would not
be activated until September as planned.

> Radio Prague E-news 
> Date: August 7th, 2000  
> Austria concerned about oil-leak at Temelin
> Austria has expressed concern over Friday's oil leak at the Temelin
> nuclear
> power plant in southern Bohemia. A spokesman for the Austrian environment
> ministry said the Austrian government was requesting a detailed report on
> the technical failure which led to the accident. The power giant CEZ which
> built the plant and is now preparing it for trial operation, reported on
> Friday that an unspecified amount of oil had leaked from a turbine into
> the
> plant's drainage system . A CEZ spokesman said the oil had been
> successfully
> contained within the plant itself and had not in any way damaged the
> environment.
> 
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