Wednesday, April 18, 2001

No surprises in plant report Temelin receives satisfactory grades, but critics remain wary By Kate Swoger A new report on the environmental impact of the nuclear power plant at Temelin has given the controversial station a passing grade. But the rating has done little to quell the ongoing debate over safety at the south Bohemian facility. Both anti-nuclear activists and plant supporters labeled the April 10 "environmental impact assessment" -- a key part of a deal hammered out between the Austrian and Czech governments in December -- as old material in a new package. "There is nothing new as far as this report is concerned. It repeats what we did and said many years ago," said Milan Nebesar, a Temelin spokesman. "The public maybe needed this repeated to confirm things." The safety of the Soviet-designed plant with Western upgrades at Temelin, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the Austrian border, has been repeatedly assailed by anti-nuclear activists who insist it poses a regional safety hazard. Rating Temelin The environmental impact assessment of Temelin uses a rating system from 1 (nearly zero risk) to 5 (unacceptable risk). Overall, Temelin was ranked 2.5 For water-purity treatment: 1.7 For impact on the atmosphere: 2 For impact on the population: 2.95 For impact on the local ecosystem: 3.75 Mechanical problems, though largely benign, have shut down the plant repeatedly since it began operation in October. The Czech-Austrian pact, reached in the Austrian town of Melk, put a halt to divisive border blockades by activists in Austria by promising the environmental study. Czech scientists and engineers led the study, with independent observers from Austria, Germany and the European Commission. The Czech press said the full commission included 78 experts. Still, many in the anti-nuclear lobby were not satisfied with the repeated assurances that the report contained. Austrian and German activists have called on Prague to shut down the plant, expected to provide 40 percent of the nation's electrical power by the end of the year. "I see great problems with this report," said Radko Pavlovec, Upper Austrian commissioner for energy issues. "It's missing other alternatives to the Temelin project ... I think it's impossible to begin without this." He called on the Czech government to reopen the study to consider alternatives to Temelin. "Otherwise, [the report] is only an instrument of the nuclear lobby of the Czech Republic to look better in the international community," Pavlovec said. According to Nebesar, the idea of abandoning the Temelin project is not an option. "There is no question of not starting up," he said. "That is a question for the beginning of a project, not the end." For Nebesar, the criticisms being lobbed at the report by the anti-nuclear side are just distractions. "They're not able to accept objective reality, facts," he said. "They want to shut down Temelin and will do anything to do so." The report will be discussed at two public forums in the coming weeks -- in Ceske Budejovice on April 25 and in Linz, Austria, on May 9 -- before a final version is submitted to Prague and Vienna on June 1. After that, the Temelin dispute will have to be settled on two levels -- among politicians and at the grass-roots level, Nebesar said. He doesn't know how the anti-nuclear lobby will be placated. That, he said, will be up to the governments to determine. Kate Swoger's e-mail address is kswoger@praguepost.cz