Temelin NPP : " Greenpeace activists block Czech embassy in Vienna "

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

Radio Prague [mailto:cr@drak.radio.cz]
News 03.10.00

Greenpeace activists block Czech embassy in Vienna

Meanwhile, protests against Temelin continue in neighbouring Austria and
Germany. Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance to the Czech embassy in
Vienna for several hours on Monday in protest against the planned activation
of the Temelin nuclear power plant . The protesters used mock nuclear waste
barrels to block the embassy's main gate and carried banners warning of the
risks of a nuclear accident. "A second Chernobyl in the middle of Europe
must be avoided by all means" their spokesman said. The Austrian government
has asked the Czech authorities to postpone the launch of Temelin and allow
an international team of nuclear experts to assess the plant's safety
standard. Meanwhile, the Czech government maintains that the plant adheres
to strict international safety norms and says that plans to activate it will
go ahead. The power utility CEZ, which built Temelin , is expected to ask
the Czech Nuclear Energy Agency for permission to activate the plant within
the space of a fortnight.
<><><><><><><><><><>

Also, Nucleonics Week, Vol. 41 No. 39 September 28, 2000, reported that

" Amid all the controversy over Temelin startup and the
plant's repeated, if minor, equipment problems, the news
that one of the most important hot pre-startup tests was
successfully completed went almost unnoticed. The reactor
control and limitation system, governed by a Westinghouse-supplied
instrumentation & control system, worked as
planned during tests Sept. 14-19, Nebesar said. Westinghouse-
supplied fuel assemblies were also demonstrated to
be compatible with fast drop of the control rods, he said.
The control system was tested under cold conditions in mid-August.
The fact that Temelin is basically a Soviet reactor
design onto which CEZ grafted American technology has
caused concern in some circles."

Comment : this "concern" about westernized Soviet reactors does not, for
some strange reason, apply to the Finnish VVER at Loviisa.

Jaro
frantaj@aecl.ca

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