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Czech Temelin plant loads fuel into 2nd reactor
Index:
Czech Temelin plant loads fuel into 2nd reactor
South Korean power firm urges workers to end strike
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Czech Temelin plant loads fuel into 2nd reactor
PRAGUE, March 11 (Reuters) - The Czech Temelin nuclear power plant, whose
operation is strongly opposed by Austria, said on Monday that it has completed
loading fuel into its second 981 megawatt (MW) reactor.
Temelin's owner, state-owned power utility CEZ (CEZPsp.PR), has been testing the
plant's first 981 MW reactor since late 2000 amid fierce protests from neighbouring
Austria which fears the plant is unsafe and should be closed.
Temelin spokesman Milan Nebesar said all 163 fuel units had been installed into the
second reactor, which would be checked by international nuclear safety regulators
later on Monday.
A controlled nuclear fission reaction is expected to be activated within six weeks.
The Soviet-designed station, which has been upgraded with western control systems,
is located 60 km (38 miles) from the border of the fiercely anti-nuclear Austria.
This has made Temelin a source of unrelenting friction between the two central
European neighbours. The EU, however, has said the plant is not an issue in the
Czechs' drive to join the 15-nation bloc, expected in 2004.
------------------
South Korean power firm urges workers to end strike
SEOUL, March 11 (Reuters) - South Korea's power monopoly vowed on Monday to
show leniency if unionised workers abandoned an outlawed strike entering its third
week but the unionists rejected the promise as a transparent ploy.
Workers at state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) <15760.KS> walked out
on February 25 to protest against plans to start privatising power affiliates.
Unions fear job cuts and electricity price rises. The government says it will not back
down on privatisation, a key policy aim for President Kim Dae-jung's team as the
economy picks up and a presidential election looms in December.
All but 1,000 of the union's 5,600 members remained on strike on Monday, KEPCO
said.
"We will minimise punishment for those coming back to work voluntarily," KEPCO
spokesman Park Jong-nam said by telephone. The company would minimise
threatened sackings and pay cuts and urge prosecutors to go as lightly as the law
allowed.
Government officials have vowed to be tough with the strike organisers. In line with
this, KEPCO said it would seek court action against the unions to make up for losses
from the walkout.
UNION DISMISSES "CARROT-AND-STICK" TACTICS
KEPCO asked the Seoul District Court to seize union workers' wages, severance pay
and deposits to make up for the losses, a KEPCO official said. KEPCO is seeking 6.2
billion won ($4.75 million) compensation.
The company estimated losses at 11.5 billion won up to March 10. KEPCO said its
losses stemmed from hiring part-time workers to avert power disruptions, rather than
from energy losses.
Union leaders dismissed the twin-track approach as "carrot-and-stick" tactics.
"We don't trust management. We know they will punish us at the end of strike," said
Ryu In-kwan, a leader of KEPCO union.
"If they really want to end the strike, they should withdraw the plan to sell power
plants first," he told Reuters at his refuge in Myongdong Cathedral in central Seoul.
On Saturday, police stormed a major Buddhist temple in Seoul and following a
struggle with monks arrested five power unionists among the 50 striking workers
holed up there.
Government plans call for selling power stations, excluding nuclear plants, to private
operators beginning this year.
Union leader Lee Ho-dong told Reuters on Friday the strike could trigger "power
chaos" as both sides stood firm.
Other union leaders have said privatisation could cause long-term electricity price
rise as KEPCO, in private hands, was unlikely to keep up investment because of
slow returns.
"It will be not too late if we privatise the power company after weighing all the
possible dangers lurking in the government plan," said Sohn Nark-koo, a spokesman
for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has some 500,000 members.
($1=1304.3 won)
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